The Continental Congress specified 13 stars for the first official Stars and Stripes flag in 1777.
On June 14, 1777, Congress passed the Flag Resolution stating that the flag of the thirteen United States should have thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars in a blue field. The stars represented a “new constellation,” while the stripes represented the united states formed from the former colonies.
The resolution did not prescribe the stars’ arrangement, number of points, or exact orientation. Early makers therefore produced different patterns, including circles, rows, and other layouts. The widely repeated claim that Betsy Ross designed the first flag is not established by contemporary evidence.
The flag later changed as new states entered the Union. Congress added both stars and stripes for Vermont and Kentucky in 1795, but in 1818 it restored the number of stripes to 13. The current flag has 50 stars and 13 stripes.