The United States adopted its first official national flag in 1777.
The Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777. It specified 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field, representing the original states.
The resolution did not define the exact arrangement of the stars, so early flags used several layouts. The familiar 50-star design developed after states were added, with the current arrangement adopted in 1960 after Hawaii became a state.
June 14 is commemorated annually as Flag Day in the United States. The date is sometimes confused with July 4, 1776, the date of the Declaration of Independence, but the flag resolution came nearly a year later.