The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of Red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the fifty U.S. states and the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner (also the name of the national anthem).

Symbolism

Many understand the flag to represent the national government established in the U.S. Constitution the rights of the citizens promised in the Bill of Rights, and perhaps most of all to be a symbol of individual and personal liberty as set forth in the Declaration of Independence. The flag is a complex and contentious symbol, around which emotions run high.

Apart from the numbers of stars and stripes representing the number of current and original states, respectively, and the union with its stars representing a constellation, there is no legally defined symbolism to the colors and shapes on the flag. However, folk theories and traditions abound; for example, that the stripes refer to rays of sunlight and that the stars refer to the heavens, the highest place that a person could aim to reach.

Specifications

Diagram of the flag's design

The basic design of the current flag is specified by usc: 1; usc: 2 outlines the addition of new stars to represent new states. The specification gives the following values:

• Hoist (width) of the flag: A = 1.0
• Fly (length) of the flag: B = 1.9
• Hoist (width) of the Union: C = 0.5385 (A x 7/13, spanning seven stripes)
• Fly (length) of the Union: D = 0.76 (B × 2/5, two fifths of the flag length)
• E = F = 0.0538 (C/10, One tenth the height of the field of Stars)
• G = H = 0.0633 (D/12, One twelfth the width of the field of Stars)
• Diameter of star: K = 0.0616
• Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (A/13, One thirteenth of the flag width)

These specifications are contained in an executive order which, strictly speaking, governs only flags made for or by the U.S. federal government. In practice, however, virtually all U.S. national flags adhere to these specifications, or close to them.

Colors

210x111px|right|thumb|A subdued-color flag patch, worn unofficially on some U.S. military camouflage uniforms, although it violates US regulations.Fact: date=February 2009 The exact shades of red, white, and blue to be used in the flag are specified as follows:

The 49- and 50-star unions

When Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood in the 1950s, more than 1,500 designs were spontaneously submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although some of them were 49-star versions, the vast majority were 50-star proposals. At least three, and probably more, of these designs were identical to the present design of the 50-star flag. At the time, credit was given by the executive department to the United States Army Institute of Heraldry for the design.