The American Flag

 
History American Flag On January 1, 1776, the Continental Congress placed American forces under the control of General George Washington. The Continental Army on that day was in the midst of a battle to liberate Boston from British control. Washington ordered the Grand Union flag to be raised over his headquarters at Prospect Hill. The flag had thirteen alternate red and white stars and the British Union Jack in upper left-hand corner.

On June 14, 1777, Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."

Since the first Flag Act in 1777, five successive acts have been passed by Congress that have changed the design of the flag and allowed additional stars to be added to reflect the admission of each new state. The Flag Act of January 13, 1794 provided for 15 stripes and 15 stars. The Flag Act of April 4, 1818 provided for 13 stripes and 1 star for each state, to be added on the 4th of July following the admission of each new state. In June of 1912, an Executive Order by President Taft established the proportions of the flag and provided for arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be pointing upward. In January of 1959, an Executive Order by President Eisenhower changed the arrangement of the stars to seven rows of seven stars each, staggered horizontally and vertically. Finally, in August of 1959, an Executive Order by President Eisenhower revised the arrangement of the stars to be nine rows of stars staggered horizontally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically.

The American flag as we know it today consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag symbolize Hardiness & Valor (red), Purity & Innocence (white), and Perseverance & Justice (blue).