The 1777 Flag Resolution specified 13 stripes for the United States flag.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the flag should have thirteen alternating red and white stripes. It also specified thirteen white stars in a blue field, representing a new constellation.
The thirteen stripes referred to the thirteen United States that had declared independence from Great Britain. The number of stars later changed as new states joined the Union, but the number of stripes was fixed at thirteen in 1818.
The flag’s early history is often mixed up with the Betsy Ross story. Tradition credits Ross with making the first flag, but historians have found no conclusive evidence that she designed it. The congressional resolution, rather than the legend, is the clearest documented source for the original specifications.