The flag of the United States has 50 stars, with one star representing each state in the union.
The white five-pointed stars appear on a blue canton in nine offset rows. The arrangement alternates between rows of six and five stars. The flag also has 13 alternating red and white stripes, symbolizing the 13 British colonies that declared independence and formed the United States.
The current 50-star design became official on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state. Alaska had become the 49th state in January 1959, producing a short-lived 49-star flag before Hawaii’s statehood prompted the final addition.
A common mix-up is the number 13: it refers to the stripes and the original colonies, not the stars. The number 48 refers to an earlier flag used after Arizona and New Mexico joined the union; that version remained official from 1912 until Alaska’s admission in 1959.