The United States flag is one of the most recognizable in the world. Everyone knows it: 13 stripes and 50 stars – a star for each state. Numerous cultural celebrations and photos of the flag being hoisted on the moon in 1969 have helped the U.S. flag become imprinted in the minds of more than just Americans.
The flag changed every time one or more states were added. It happened that in a certain form, the flag was used for only a couple of months, then another update – and a new flag.
The modern American flag has undergone about 27 different versions, but the very concept of stripes and stars was invented and drawn by a 17-year-old schoolboy from Ohio. Robert Heft’s school project was about the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii.
As for the color scheme, it was explained by the Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson: white stands for purity and innocence, red for steadfastness and valor, and blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
In this article, we want to talk about the full history of the American Flag, which officially began on June 14, 1777, after the year of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. But that was not the first US Flag. And the variants that preceded the modern flag were not a few! Now, let’s go through it all in order.
This flag is known as the Sons of Liberty Flag or Rebellious Stripes. It was the very first flag, used by the “Sons Of Liberty”, an organization formed by American colonists in the early years of the American Revolution in response to England’s colonial policies.
Another flag used before the design was formally adopted as the Bedford Flag, an elegant burgundy and gold composition with a latticed arm raising a sword, and the Latin inscription “Vince Aut Morire” which means “Win or Die”.
The prototype for the modern American flag was the maritime merchant flag of the East India Company ships, with differences in the number of alternating stripes and the lack of a “starry blanket”, which was replaced by a stylized “Union Jack”.
The bright design immediately many people like it, and the striped symbol began to be actively used as a naval and garrison flag. This moment can be considered the birth of the main symbol of the United States of America.
Another unofficial flag, used in the 1770s was the Culpeper Minutemen symbol with a snake and bold brutal lettering, which can also be seen on the Gadsden Flag.
The Forster Flag, made of crimson silk with short white stripes on it, might be the first depiction of the thirteen colonies, and the first symbols of their unity.
It is also known about the use of the Gadsden yellow flag with the image of a coiled and ready-to-bite rattlesnake and the text under it: “Don’t tread on me.”
The thirteen white six-pointed stars are arranged into the shape of a rhombus on a solid blue background in the upper left corner of the Hulbert Flag, named after Captain John Hulbert.
The vertical Rebellious Stripes red and white flag of the Sons of Liberty organization turned into this horizontal flag with thirteen medium-weight stripes.
Another name for this flag is The Liberty Tree. It can be found in different interpretations, but the one with the white square in the upper left corner of the burgundy rectangle is one of the most famous.
The thirteen white six-pointed stars geometrically located on a solid blue background will later become a part of the official flag.
Another Liberty Tree flag, featuring a lone green pine tree on a white background, is accompanied on this flag by the inscription ” An Appeal to Heaven.”
An extremely elegant Moultrie Flag with a stylized white moon on a solid blue background and the bold blue “Liberty” lettering could easily be used as a logo for any modern brand.
The Betsy Ross flag was used in the first year of independence but was not official. George Washington declared that the red stripes symbolized the British homeland, the white stripes symbolized separation from it, and the stars were taken from the heavens. Originally the stars were to be six-pointed. The legend that the stars lost one end is attributed to the name of seamstress Betsy Ross. Ross announced that the flag should not be square, as rectangular ones would take more material to make and six-pointed stars were very problematic to embroider.
This flag was used by the City of Easton in Pennsylvania, and here the starry part is enlarged, while the red and white stripes are enclosed into a square in the top left corner of the composition.
The Green Mountain Boys, also known as Warner’s Regiment, was a citizen militia first organized in 1764 in what is now the U.S. state of Vermont, which is still one of the greenest states in the world today. The movement’s flag was designed in a rich green color with randomly placed white stars on a light blue background reminiscent of a cloudless sky.
The main difference of the Bennington Flag (named after the Battle of Bennington) is the enlarged “76” digit, written on a blue square in the upper left corner of the flag, and accompanied by an arch made of eleven white six-pointed stars, and two additional one in the top corners.
Another flag, named after a battle, is the Brandywine Flag, set in a dramatic red and white color palette. The interpretation of the American flag here takes the upper right corner and lacks blue shades. The red six-pointed stars are located in three horizontal lines 4-5-4. The main shade of the flag is solid red.
The Fort Mercer Flag is another Revolutionary symbol of the country. Based on the original concept with white stars and horizontal stripes, this flag uses reverse colors — the upper left corner is colored in solid red, while the stripes are set in blue and white. Interestingly, the white stars here are already five-pointed.
The Fort Mifflin Flag, used in 1777, featured a striped pattern, made up of thirteen horizontal lines in red, white, and blue. No stars were present on this version of the flag.
June 14, 1777, the year after the declaration of independence from Great Britain. The official National Flag Act was passed, legitimizing as the national symbol a cloth of 13 red and white horizontal stripes and a blue rectangle with 13 white five-pointed stars. The 13 stripes symbolized the number of the first states to declare independence: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
The main peculiarity of the Trumbull’s Saratoga and Yorktown Flag is the geometry on the starry square. The twelve white five-pointed stars are located around the square’s perimeter and the thirteens were placed in the center.
According to one of the versions, the First Navy Jack Flag was composed of thirteen horizontal stripes in red and white, with the yellow snake drawn across it, and the “Don’t tread On Me” motto. However, most likely the last two elements were added a long time after.
The George Rogers Clark Flag is another revolutionary flag, used by the Regiment of Lt. Colonel George Rogers Clark to help capture Vincennes IN. It was a flag, made of thirteen horizontal stripes in green and red, with no stars.
The Alliance Flag, used in 1779, featured the official concept of the composition, with just one difference — the thirteen white stars on the blue background were drawn as the six-pointed ones.
In 1779, Captain John Paul Johnson sailed to Holland, and on the way captured a British ship that had lost its flag during the crossing. In the port of Amsterdam, ships refused to accept, considering pirates, but the brave captain did not give up. He hastily painted the flag from memory. He memorized it and made it the same way – but added blue stripes to the red and white stripes. This flag bears the name Serapis.
Sebastian Bauman was the American Artillery Officer, who created the map of Yorktown. The flag, named in his honor was pretty much the same as the Alliance flag, but with a smaller blue segment, and bolder stars, with their contours slightly softened.
Another name of the Cowpens Flag is The Third Maryland Flag, and it is designed according to all the requirements of the Flag Resolution: thirteen white stars on a blue background and thirteen red and white horizontal stripes. The only thing here is the disposition of the stars — the twelve of them make up a ring, and the thirteen is set in its center.
The French Alliance Flag introduced in 1781, featured a slightly modified composition: the blue segment was stretched vertically, taking almost all the height of the flag. The stylized white stars were set in four levels of three, with the thirteens set at the very bottom. The golden fleur-de-lys emblem, the symbol of France, was set on top of the stars, creating a symmetrical image.
The Guilford Flag was somewhat different: stretched horizontally, it featured a striped pattern in blue and red and a huge white rectangle with thirteen enlarged eight-pointed stars in solid blue.
The Shaw Flag also followed all the rules of the Flag Regulations but had its blue area taking the whole height of the left side. The thirteen white eight-pointed stars were drawn on it symmetrically in 1-2-1-2.
The stars of the Fort Harmar Flag were drawn in three levels (4-5-4) and set diagonally against a solid blue background in the upper left corner of the composition.
The Nathan Beman flag differed from all others by the number of the stars — there were fourteen white five-pointed stars, set in an interesting composition — four rays coming out of the central ring. The fourteenth star represented the admission of the Vermont State.
The Indian Peace Flag featured a white image of a bald eagle drawn under the arch of thirteen five-pointed stars. The chest of the symbol was decorated by a classy shield with a vertically striped pattern in red and white, and the solid blue upper part with three white stars on it.
Shortly after the end of the War of Independence, Kentucky was formed, and Vermont joined the union. This was reflected in the new version of the flag. It was exactly as the lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key saw it, with 15 stars and stripes, on September 13, 1814, when British ships fired on Fort McHenry in Baltimore. he immediately wrote the poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry. Its lines set to music were so beloved that the song was soon used in the Navy and was declared the national anthem on March 3, 1931. Since then, the flag has been called the Star-Spangled Banner.
In 1818, America added 5 more states (Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Mississippi, and Louisiana). Traditionally, five more stars were added to the flag, but the stripes were not added, as the pattern became too small and began to blur when viewed from a distance. President James Monroe decreed that the number of stripes should remain the same and the stars should be added on July 4 of the year following the admission of the new member to the Union
Another version of the American Flag with 20 stars on it featured a modified blue segment. The twenty white five-pointed stars there were arranged into the shape of a large star. The flag was named The Great Star.
Another historical flag is named the Old Glory. It was given as a birthday present to Captain William Driver, who had been using it for decades, and even added stars to it when the new states joined. Today, “Old Glory,” like the “Star-Spangled Flag,” is housed in the National Museum of American History, in Washington, DC.
In 1837 another version of the American flag was introduced: with the 26 five-pointed stars arranged into a star shape: the central star was the largest, and the smallest ones were placed on the five peaks.
A very interesting design of the flag was created in 1861 and was named the Cross-Cluster Flag. It was a flag with 29 stars, which were arranged in five groups of five, and four individual ones, making up a large star in the negative space on a blue background.
The Fort Sumter Flag features 33 white five-pointed stars, arranged on a blue background in the shape of a large rhombus with the corners embedded by four stars each. Due to the shape, the flag was called The Fort Sumter Diamond.
Another historical flag, used during the Civil War, was called The Great Flower, as the starry pattern on a blue background had its sides slightly arched and the central element resembling the central part of a flower.
Another rare flag was named The Phalanx, due to an interesting disposition of the stars again. The 34 five-pointed stars were placed in six horizontal lines of 6, with the four additional ones set in the corners, slightly shifted in between the main lines.
The Wagon Wheel Flag featured 36 five-pointed stars, arranged into a circle, with a distinctive ring framing and the central part set more chaotically, which made the composition resemble a wheel.
The Medallion Continental flag, introduced in 1867, already featured 37 stars, which were placed in two rings — a smaller one inside a large one. In this composition, the stars were drawn in quite a small size, which made the blue shade dominating.
The last “fantasy” flag is considered to be the Concentric Circle, which was used from 1877 until 1890. The flag featured 38 stars, which were forming two rings, one inside another, four stars in the corners of the blue square, and one large star in the very center of the image.
It was only in 1912 when the flag had already changed 24 times and had 48 stars, that special documents and specifications regulating its proportions, sizes, and colors of the stripes were approved for the first time. For example, it was then that the ratio of height to length of the flag’s cloth was established as 1:1.9, etc. It was this flag under which American soldiers went into battle during World Wars I and II.
In 1958, another expansion was planned: Alaska and Hawaii were going to become part of the United States. The authorities decided to collect citizens’ proposals. The U.S. Congress has received more than 1,500 proposals for both 49-star and 50-star flags.
One such proposal was a letter from Robert Heft, a student at Lancaster City High School. His teacher gave him a B-minus, and when the boy expressed his dissatisfaction, he promised: I will change the grade only if Congress accepts your work. And then Robert not only sent his work to the contest but also won it. So in 1960, after the annexation of Hawaii, the flag came out with its design, and exists in this form until today. A project to add the 51st star, symbolizing the annexation of Puerto Rico, is in the works.