The United States flag described by Congress in its 1777 Flag Resolution had 13 stars.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the flag should have 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a blue field. The stars represented the 13 states that had declared independence from Great Britain.
The resolution did not specify the stars’ arrangement, size, number of points, or precise orientation. Consequently, early flags appeared in several patterns, including circles, rows, and other arrangements. The familiar Betsy Ross design is one later interpretation, not a definitively documented original layout.
As new states joined the Union, Congress authorized additional stars and sometimes additional stripes. The number of stripes was eventually fixed at 13, while the number of stars continued growing until the current flag reached 50 stars in 1960.