On that historic day, the flag of the United States of America came into existence and this form remains unchanged to the present day. Just who designed the first flag or who made it is a question still debated by historians. Some believe that Betsy Ross designed the first flag, although claims have also been made that Francis Hopkinson, a Congressman, designed and made the first flag. Historical records do show that Betsy Ross made flags for the government in 1777, but whether she made the first United States flag will probably always remain in doubt. In 1782, the Congress of the confederation reaffirmed the choice of the Continental Congress by stating that the national seal and the flag would remain red, white and blue. Deeper meaning was also given to the flag and its design. The thirteen original states would always be represented by the seven red stripes and the six white ones. However, they left open the question of how the stars on the blue union would be arranged. In 1777, Congress had not specified any particular design for the arrangement of the stars and some flags had thirteen stars in a circle. Others had twelve in a circle with the thirteenth in the center. By 1782 though, almost all the national flags had the thirteen stars in a circle. In 1794, Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union bringing the number of states to fifteen. Congress ordered that all new flags would carry fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, and that a star and a stripe would be added as each new state joined the Union. This would later prove to be too cumbersome and would soon be abandoned. This flag, with its fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, is the flag Americans carried in the War of 1812. By 1817, The Union was expanded by five more states: Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi. This expansion meant a new flag. Samuel C. Reid, a navy captain, redesigned the flag using the original thirteen stripes and adding a star for each of the twenty states. This idea was proposed to Congress by Peter Wendover, a representative from New York. It was passed as the New Flag Act, and the date was set as July 4th next after a new state had been admitted to the Union as the day on which a new flag would be flown. Congress again left open the question of how the stars might be arranged, so the design was left to individual flag makers. In later years, the President has usually proclaimed how the stars would be arranged and all flags must agree with the Presidential proclamation. New states were constantly being admitted to the Union and the United States had thirteen national flags between 1817 and 1861. During the Civil War, we had another two flags with the admission of Kansas and West Virginia. Union troops fought under a 33-star flag during the first three months of the war; a 34-star flag until 1863; and a 35-star flag until the end of the war. President Lincoln refused to take out the stars of the southern states which had seceded. After the war had ended, the nation began to move west. Nebraska joined the Union in 1867; followed in 1877 by Colorado; 1890 by North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho; 1891 by Wyoming; 1896 by Utah; and 1908 by Oklahoma. During this period of transition in the country, we had six more national flags. The twenty-third flag, adopted in 1896, was the flag that we fought under during the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1912, Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union and thus the United States needed another new flag. This was the twenty-fifth flag, adopted in 1912, and which lasted until 1959. The total of 47 years that this flag flew over the nation represents the longest period of duration of any one flag of the United States. This flag was carried to the battlefields of World War I and World War II, as well as the Korean War. In 1959, Alaska was admitted as the 49th state of the Union. The 49-star flag, adopted in 1959, was raised at 12:01 a.m. on July 4th, 1959, over Ft. McHenry to signal the official admittance of Alaska. This flag lasted but a short while for on July 4th, 1960, the United States raised the present 50-star flag signaling the admission of Hawaii as our 50th and last state. To date, we have had twenty-seven national flags, and they have all flown in glory over this great nation, the United States.
27 Flags of the United States
