The Flag Act of 1777 first specified the stripes and stars of the United States flag linked to America250.
Approved by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, the law established a flag with thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. It did not prescribe the stars’ arrangement, leaving the design open to interpretation.
The thirteen stripes represented the original colonies, while the stars represented a new constellation of states. As additional states entered the Union, later laws changed the number of stars. The number of stripes, however, returned to and remained at thirteen after a brief period when new states also brought additional stripes.
June 14 is now observed in the United States as Flag Day. The date is separate from July 4, which America250 uses to commemorate the Declaration of Independence’s adoption in 1776.