United States of America Flag
The present official UNITED STATES flag is a 50 star flag, born of the need for a more practical design to accommodate new states entering the union. On April 4, 1818, Congress established the number of stripes at seven red and six white, and provided the addition of one star for each new state. The thirteen stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The 50 star flag has been in use since July 4, 1960 when Hawaii officially joined the union.
In the first years of the Revolutionary War, America fought under many flags. One of these flags, called the Grand Union, flew over George Washington's headquarters near Boston. It was the first American flag to be officially recognized by another country.
On November 16, 1776, the American warship, Andrew Doria, saluted a Dutch fort in the West Indies and was saluted in return. This brought a measure of international recognition to the United Colonies.
A flag with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes received its first salute from another country on February 14, 1778, when French vessels in Quiberon Bay, France, saluted John Paul Jones and his ship, "The Ranger."
No one positively knows who designed the first Stars and Stripes, or who made the first flag. Soon after our new government adopted the flag, Congressman Francis Hopkinson claimed that he had designed it. Some historians believe that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia tailor, made the first UNITED STATES flag.
On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag of the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act "Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
List of 50 State Flages of the United States
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Alaska State Flag
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Alabama State Flag
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Arkansas State Flag
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Arizona State Flag
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California State Flag
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Colorado State Flag
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Connecticut State Flag
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Delaware State Flag
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Florida State Flag
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Georgia State Flag
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Hawaii State Flag
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Iowa State Flag
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Idaho State Flag
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Illinois State Flag
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Indiana State Flag
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Kansas State Flag
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Kentucky State Flag
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Louisiana State Flag
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Massachusetts State Flag
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Maryland State Flag
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Maine State Flag
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Michigan State Flag
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Minnesota State Flag
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Missouri State Flag
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Mississippi State Flag
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Montana State Flag
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North Carolina State Flag
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North Dakota State Flag
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Nebraska State Flag
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New Hampshire State Flag
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New Jersey State Flag
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New Mexico State Flag
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Nevada State Flag
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New York State Flag
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Ohio State Flag
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Oklahoma State Flag
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Oregon State Flag
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Pennsylvania State Flag
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Rhode Island State Flag
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South Carolina State Flag
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South Dakota State Flag
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Tennessee State Flag
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Texas State Flag
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Utah State Flag
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Virginia State Flag
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Vermont State Flag
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Washington State Flag
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Wisconsin State Flag
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West Virginia State Flag
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Wyoming State Flag
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