The Continental Congress adopted the first congressional description of the U.S. flag on June 14, 1777.
The Flag Resolution specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars in a blue field, representing a new constellation. Congress did not specify the stars’ exact arrangement, allowing early flags to display them in different patterns.
The resolution was passed by the Marine Committee during the Revolutionary War. Its thirteen stars and stripes represented the thirteen United States, the former colonies that had declared independence and were fighting Britain.
June 14 is now observed in the United States as Flag Day. The date is sometimes linked too confidently to Betsy Ross. The famous story credits Ross with sewing the first flag, but historians have found no conclusive contemporary evidence that she designed the congressional flag.