Who designed the 50-star U.S. flag as a high-school student in 1958?

Robert G. Heft designed the 50-star U.S. flag as a high-school student in 1958.

Heft created the design for a history class project while Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood. He cut and rearranged stars on an existing 48-star flag, producing a pattern of five rows alternating with four rows. His teacher initially graded the project B-minus, but Heft argued that the design would be useful if both territories became states.

Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected Heft’s arrangement from more than 1,500 submitted designs, and the flag officially became the national flag on July 4, 1960.

The story is often simplified into the claim that Heft single-handedly invented the flag. The federal government made the final selection, and the design was based on established rules for the flag’s stars and stripes. Heft’s arrangement remains the longest-used U.S. flag design.