Which 1777 resolution established the basic design of the first U.S. national flag?

The 1777 Flag Resolution established the basic design of the first U.S. national flag.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the resolution on June 14, 1777. It specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and a blue field containing thirteen white stars, representing the thirteen states. The resolution did not prescribe the stars’ arrangement, so early flags used different patterns.

The design changed as new states joined the Union. Congress added stars and stripes for Vermont and Kentucky in 1795, creating a fifteen-star, fifteen-stripe flag. In 1818, it restored the number of stripes to thirteen and established the practice of adding only a star for each new state.

The familiar Betsy Ross story, which credits Ross with sewing the first flag, became popular much later and lacks firm contemporary documentation. The Flag Resolution is therefore the strongest documented answer to the question of who established the national flag’s original design.