The 1777 Flag Resolution specified thirteen stripes for the United States flag.
The Continental Congress resolved on June 14, 1777, that the flag should have thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. The thirteen stripes represented the thirteen United Colonies that had declared independence from Great Britain.
The number of stars changed as new states joined the Union, but the number of stripes did not continue increasing. Congress temporarily authorized fifteen stripes after Vermont and Kentucky entered the Union, creating a fifteen-star, fifteen-stripe flag from 1795 to 1818. The Flag Act of 1818 restored thirteen stripes and established the practice of adding one star for each new state.
The current flag therefore combines thirteen permanent stripes with fifty stars. The last star was added for Hawaii in 1960. Flag Day, observed on June 14, commemorates the original congressional resolution rather than the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.