The Continental Congress adopted the first official Stars and Stripes design on June 14, 1777.
The Flag Resolution declared that the flag of the thirteen United States should have thirteen alternating red and white stripes and a blue union containing thirteen white stars. Congress described the stars as representing “a new constellation.” The resolution was passed by the Marine Committee during the Revolutionary War.
The 1777 resolution did not specify the precise arrangement, shape, or orientation of the stars. Later makers used several patterns, including rows and circles. The familiar Betsy Ross arrangement of thirteen stars in a circle is traditionally associated with the early flag, but the story that Betsy Ross designed the national flag is not firmly supported by contemporary records.
June 14 is commemorated annually in the United States as Flag Day. The modern flag has fifty stars and thirteen stripes, but the stripes remain tied to the original thirteen colonies and the stars now represent the fifty states.