Thirteen horizontal stripes appear on the modern United States flag, commemorating the original colonies.
The stripes alternate red and white, while the blue canton contains stars representing the states. The thirteen stripes have remained fixed even as the number of states increased from the original thirteen to fifty.
The Continental Congress adopted the first official flag resolution on June 14, 1777. It specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars in a blue field, representing a new constellation.
The flag briefly had fifteen stripes after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in the 1790s. Congress returned the design to thirteen stripes in 1818, establishing the enduring distinction between the stripes for the original colonies and the stars for current states.