Flag of the United States

The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen English colonies that won independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.

The flag was created as an item of military equipment to identify U.S. ships and forts. It evolved gradually during early American history, and was not designed by any one person. The flag exploded in popularity in 1861 as a symbol of opposition to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. It came to symbolize the Union in the American Civil War; Union victory solidified its status as a national flag. Because of the country's emergence as a superpower in the 20th century, the flag is now among the most widely recognized symbols in the world.

Well-known nicknames for the flag include "the Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory", "the Star-Spangled Banner", and "the Red, White, and Blue". The Pledge of Allegiance and the holiday Flag Day are dedicated to it. The number of stars on the flag is increased as new states join the United States. The last adjustment was made in 1960, following the admission of Hawaii.

The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th; the design of the flag has been modified officially 26 times since 1777. The 48-star flag was in effect for 47 years until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959. The 50-star flag was ordered by then president Eisenhower on August 21, 1959, and was adopted in July 1960. It is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag and has been in use for over 65 years.

The first official flag resembling the "Stars and Stripes" was the Continental Navy ensign (often referred to as the Continental Union Flag, Continental Colours, the first American flag, Cambridge Flag, and Grand Union Flag) was used from 1775 to 1777. It consisted of 13 red-and-white stripes, with the British Union Flag in the canton. It first appeared on December 3, 1775, when Continental Navy Lieutenant John Paul Jones flew it aboard Captain Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred on the Delaware River.

Prospect Hill was the location of George Washington's command post during the Siege of Boston during the American Revolution. On New Year's Day in 1776, Washington conducted a flag-raising ceremony to raise the morale of the men of the Continental Army. The standard account features the Continental Union Flag flying, although in 2006, Peter Ansoff advanced a theory that it was actually a British Union Flag instead. Others, such as Byron DeLear, have argued in favor of the traditional version of events. The Continental Union Flag remained the national flag until June 14, 1777. At the time of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, there were no flags with any stars on them; the Continental Congress did not adopt flags with "stars, white in a blue field" for another year. It has historically been referred to as the first flag of the United States.

Colloquially referred to as the Cambridge Flag and Grand Union Flag; the terms domain did not come into use until the 19th century. Although it has been claimed the more recent moniker, Grand Union Flag, was first applied to the Continental Union Flag by G. Henry Preble in his Reconstruction era book Our Flag; the first substantiated use of the name came from Philadelphia resident T. Westcott in 1852 when replying to an inquiry made in Notes and Queries, a London periodical, as to the origin of the U.S. flag.

The flag very closely resembles the East India Company flag of the era. Sir Charles Fawcett argued in 1937 that the company flag inspired the design of the U.S. flag. Both flags could easily have been constructed by adding white stripes to a Red Ensign, one of the three maritime flags used throughout the British Empire at the time. However, the East India Company flag could have from nine to 13 stripes and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean.