On what date did the current 50-star U.S. flag become official?
Answer
July 4, 1960
The current 50-star U.S. flag became official on July 4, 1960.
The design added a star for Hawaii, which had become the 50th state in August 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the 50-star arrangement through Executive Order 10834 on August 21, 1959, but the flag’s official adoption took effect on the next Fourth of July.
The flag has thirteen horizontal stripes representing the original thirteen colonies and fifty white stars representing the states. The stars appear in nine horizontal rows that alternate between six and five stars.
Alaska’s admission produced a 49-star flag that became official on July 4, 1959, but it lasted only one year. The 50-star design has remained unchanged since 1960 and became the longest-used version of the U.S. flag in 2007, surpassing the 48-star flag’s period of use.