The current official flag of the United States has 50 stars.
Each star represents one U.S. state. The present design became official on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii joined the Union as the fiftieth state. Alaska had already entered the Union in 1959, creating a brief 49-star flag before Hawaii’s admission produced the current 50-star version.
The flag also has 13 alternating red and white stripes. Those stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that declared independence from Great Britain. The blue canton contains the stars and is commonly called the union. Unlike the number of stars, the number of stripes has remained fixed at thirteen since 1818.
The flag’s design has changed whenever states were added. A 1795 law temporarily increased both the stars and stripes to fifteen for Vermont and Kentucky, but Congress restored the stripe count to thirteen in 1818. New stars are added on July 4 following a state’s admission, which explains why the 50-star flag debuted on Independence Day.