On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the following resolution: “Resolved that the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a constellation.” Based on this action, we celebrate Flag Day on every June 14.
Although not proven, evidence suggests that Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and upholsterer, created the first stars and stripes U.S. flag with the circle of 13 stars on a blue union in May 1776, based on a pencil sketch drawn by General George Washington, with whom she worshipped at church. Washington said, “We take the stars and blue union from heaven, the red from our mother country (England), separating it by white stripes, thus showing we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”
For generations, Ross’ descendants recounted the story and maintained the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, contributing to her emergence as a significant patriotic icon late in the 19th century. They ensured that the Betsy Ross flag, with its 13 stripes and circle of 13 stars, would remain a powerful symbol of the American Revolution and the fight to establish and preserve the principles of liberty.
