The United States flag has 13 horizontal stripes, representing the original Thirteen Colonies.
The stripes alternate red and white and run across the flag beneath the blue canton. Their number reflects the colonies that declared independence from Great Britain and formed the political foundation of the United States.
The flag briefly had 15 stripes after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in the 1790s. Congress restored the design to 13 stripes in 1818, while continuing the practice of adding a star for each new state. This separated the permanent colonial symbolism of the stripes from the changing number of states.
People sometimes reverse the meanings of the flag's symbols. The stripes do not represent the modern number of states; that role belongs to the stars. The 13-stripe pattern therefore connects the present flag directly to the revolutionary era commemorated by the 250th anniversary.