The 1777 Flag Resolution specified 13 stars for the original United States flag.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States should have 13 white stars in a blue field, representing a new constellation. The same resolution specified 13 alternating red and white stripes.
The resolution did not prescribe the stars’ arrangement, number of points, or orientation. As a result, early flag makers used several designs, including rows, circles, and other layouts. The familiar Betsy Ross story is traditional, but historians have not established that Ross made the first official flag.
The number of stars later changed as new states joined the Union. The flag reached 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795 after Vermont and Kentucky entered, but the 1818 Flag Act returned the stripes to 13 and set the practice of adding one star for each new state. The modern flag has 50 stars.