U.S. Government

Bob Spencer gets wrapped up in his work while helping replace a giant American flag flying over a local service station in Springfield, Ill., Thursday, April 11, 2002. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

The Stars and Stripes originated as a result of a resolution adopted by the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia on June 14, 1777. The resolution read:

"Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation."

The resolution gave no instruction as to how many points the stars should have, nor how the stars should be arranged on the blue union. Consequently, there were many variations. During the Revolutionary War, several patriots made flags for the new Nation. Betsy Ross is the best known of these persons, but there is no proof that she made the first Stars and Stripes.

It was not until April 4, 1818, when President Monroe accepted a bill that prescribed the basic design of the flag which would assure that the growth of the country would be properly symbolized. It required that the flag of the United States have a union of 20 stars, white on a blue field, and that upon admission of each new State one star be added to the union of the flag on the fourth of July following the date of admission. The 13 alternating red and white stripes would remain unchanged.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of Flag Day on June 14, the birthday of the Stars and Stripes. It was not until 1949 that Congress made this day a permanent observance.

Abridged from U.S. State Department IIP publications and other U.S. government materials.