When did the Continental Congress adopt the 13-star United States flag design?

The Continental Congress adopted the 13-star United States flag design on June 14, 1777.

Congress’s Flag Resolution specified 13 alternating red-and-white stripes and a blue union containing 13 white stars. The stars represented a “new constellation,” while the stripes represented the united states formed from the former colonies.

The resolution did not prescribe the stars’ exact arrangement, their number of points, or which stripe should be red. Early flags therefore appeared in several patterns. The familiar circle of stars associated with Betsy Ross is a later traditional design, not a layout required by the 1777 resolution.

The flag changed as new states joined the Union. Congress added both stars and stripes when Vermont and Kentucky entered in 1791 and 1792, but later legislation returned the stripes to 13 while continuing to add stars. The current 50-star design dates from 1960, after Hawaii became a state.