The current United States flag has 50 stars.
Each star represents one state in the Union, while the flag's 13 alternating stripes represent the thirteen colonies that declared independence from Great Britain. The stars are arranged in nine horizontal rows on a blue canton, alternating between rows of six and five.
The 50-star design became official on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii joined the Union. Alaska had become the 49th state in 1959, and Hawaii's admission produced the current arrangement.
The number of stripes did not keep increasing with the number of states. Congress restored the flag to 13 stripes in 1818, leaving new states to be represented by additional stars. This is why the modern flag combines 50 stars with only 13 stripes.