The Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution establishing the first official U.S. flag design on June 14, 1777.
The resolution specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. It described the stars as representing a new constellation. The thirteen elements corresponded to the thirteen states that had declared independence from Great Britain.
The resolution did not prescribe the stars' arrangement, their number of points, or which color stripe came first. Later flag designs therefore varied, including circular star patterns and other arrangements. The modern flag retains the original thirteen stripes while adding stars as new states joined the Union.
June 14 is observed as Flag Day in the United States. Tradition says the new flag may have been first displayed at the Continental Army's Middlebrook encampment in New Jersey, although the resolution itself did not identify a particular maker or first location. The familiar Betsy Ross story is widely known but remains a tradition rather than a detail established by the 1777 resolution.