The United States flag has 13 stripes, symbolizing the original thirteen colonies celebrated during America250.
The stripes alternate red and white and run horizontally across the flag. The Continental Congress established the thirteen-stripe design in its Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777. That resolution also specified thirteen white stars on a blue field.
The number of stripes briefly increased to 15 after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union. In 1818, Congress returned the flag to 13 stripes while establishing that a new star would be added for each new state. This preserved the stripes as a reference to the founding colonies.
The current flag has 50 stars, representing the 50 states, but it retains the original 13 stripes. The stripes therefore refer to the colonies that declared independence and formed the early United States, not to the country's present number of states.