Congress adopted the first official U.S. flag design on June 14, 1777.
The Flag Resolution of 1777 specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. Congress described the stars as representing “a new constellation.” The resolution was passed during the Revolutionary War, nearly a year after the Declaration of Independence.
The flag’s thirteen stripes and stars represented the thirteen states that had declared independence from Great Britain. The design later changed as new states joined the Union. In 1795, Vermont and Kentucky led to a fifteen-star, fifteen-stripe flag. Congress restored the stripes to thirteen in 1818 while continuing to add stars for new states.
June 14 is now observed in the United States as Flag Day. The popular story that Betsy Ross designed the first flag is widely known, but historians have found no conclusive evidence that she created the official design adopted by Congress.