The Continental Congress adopted the first official United States flag design on June 14, 1777.
The Flag Resolution called for thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. It described the stars as representing a new constellation. The resolution established the basic national design during the Revolutionary War, less than a year after the Declaration of Independence.
The original resolution did not specify the stars’ exact arrangement, their number of points, or which stripe color should appear at the top. Early flags therefore varied in appearance. The circular-star arrangement later known as the Betsy Ross flag is one traditional interpretation, not a design explicitly ordered by the resolution.
June 14 is now observed as Flag Day in the United States. The flag later gained stars as new states joined the Union, but the thirteen stripes remained to represent the original colonies that became independent.