The first official United States flag adopted by Congress represented 13 states with 13 stars.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution calling for thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. The stars represented the thirteen United States, the former colonies that had declared independence.
The resolution did not specify the stars’ exact arrangement, size, or number of points. Early flag makers therefore used several layouts, including circles, rows, and other patterns. The familiar Betsy Ross story is widely repeated, but historians have found no contemporary evidence proving that Ross made the first flag.
The flag gained additional stars as new states joined the Union. Congress added stripes only once, for Vermont and Kentucky, before returning to thirteen stripes in 1818.