Robert G. Heft designed the 50-star American flag as a high-school project that later became the official U.S. flag.
In 1958, Heft was a student in Ohio when he created a 50-star flag for a class assignment. Alaska and Hawaii were approaching statehood, so he planned a design that could accommodate fifty states. His teacher initially graded the project as a B-minus, but Heft said he would seek national attention for the design if it became the basis of the next flag.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected Heft’s design from thousands of submissions. The 50-star flag became official on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii joined the Union. It remains the longest-used U.S. flag design and will be the national flag displayed during America’s 250th anniversary.
Betsy Ross is traditionally associated with an early 13-star flag, but the story that she designed the first U.S. flag is not firmly established by contemporary evidence. Francis Hopkinson did contribute to early national design work, but he did not design the 50-star flag.