The Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution establishing the first official United States flag design on June 14, 1777.
The resolution called for 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field. The stripes and stars represented the original 13 states, which had emerged from the former colonies during the American Revolution.
The resolution did not specify the arrangement of the stars, their number of points, or which color stripe should appear at the top. Later flag designs changed as new states joined the Union. The flag eventually reached its present 50-star form after Hawaii became a state in 1959.
June 14 is observed as Flag Day. A popular story credits Betsy Ross with sewing the first flag, but historians have not established that she designed the national flag. The congressional resolution, rather than a confirmed individual designer, is the firm historical foundation for the flag’s origin.