The first official U.S. flag had 13 stripes.
The Continental Congress adopted the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777. It specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field, representing a new constellation. The stripes referred to the thirteen states that had declared independence from Great Britain.
The flag’s design evolved as new states joined the Union. Congress passed the Flag Act of 1794, which added stars and stripes for Vermont and Kentucky, bringing the total to fifteen of each. In 1818, Congress returned the flag to thirteen stripes while continuing to add a star for each new state.
The modern flag still has thirteen stripes, but it has fifty stars because the last state, Hawaii, joined in 1959. The current fifty-star arrangement became official on July 4, 1960, after Alaska and Hawaii entered the Union.