Symbol of Freedom

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the flag of the United States would have "thirteen stripes, alternate red and white," and that the union would be "thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." The resolution did not say how the stars should be arranged, which is why early flags show them in circles, rows and other patterns.

Congress later added a star and a stripe for Vermont and for Kentucky, and the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in September 1814 carried fifteen of each. By 1818 that approach had run out of room. Congress fixed the stripes at thirteen, for the original colonies, and ruled that a star would be added on the next Fourth of July after each new state joined. The flag has had fifty stars since 1960.

This one is shown close and low-lit, the way a flag looks after long weather. The cloth rolls in deep folds across the frame, with the blue canton at upper left and off-white stars in loose rows. The stripes run to the right in faded red and tan, each fold catching a thin line of light while the hollows sink nearly to black.