The current United States flag has 50 stars.
Each star represents one U.S. state, so the design changed as states joined the Union. The 50-star flag became official on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii entered statehood in August 1959. Alaska had prompted a short-lived 49-star design that became official on July 4, 1959.
The flag also contains 13 alternating red and white stripes. Those stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that declared independence from Great Britain. The stars and stripes therefore connect the modern Union with the country’s revolutionary origins.
The current flag is the 27th official design and has been used longer than any previous version. It is sometimes confused with the 50-star flag’s informal design stories, including claims about a student named Robert G. Heft. Official records credit the federal design process rather than a single civilian designer.