The current United States flag has 13 horizontal stripes.
The stripes alternate red and white and represent the thirteen colonies that declared independence from Great Britain. The design preserves the number used in the first official national flag adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777, even as the number of stars changed with the nation's growth.
The flag's 50 white stars represent the 50 states, so the two numbers carry different historical meanings. This distinction causes a common mix-up: the stars reflect the present union, while the stripes continue to recall the original colonies. The flag's current arrangement has thirteen stripes and a blue canton containing the stars.
Congress adopted the first 13-star flag on June 14, 1777. In 1795, the flag temporarily had 15 stripes after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union, but the 1818 Flag Act restored the permanent 13-stripe standard and reserved new additions for stars.