Flag of USA

Facts, history and meaning about the flag of USA

See also U.S States flags.

USA is located in North America.

The official ISO 3166 code for USA is:

The flag of the United States, also known as "Stars and Stripes" or the "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the national anthem, received its name from all the stars and stripes figuring on the flag. The 50 stars represent the current 50 states in the US and the 13 stripes remind us of the original US states.

The latest appearance of the flag was created and adopted on July 4, 1960.

The flag added stars went from 48 to 50 stars because Alaska and Hawaii joined the union in 1959: Alaska on 3 Jan and Hawai'i 21 Aug.

The U.S. flag had 48 stars from 1912 to 1959. Alaska joined the union in January, so the flag had 49 stars starting 4 July 1959. Because Hawai'i joined the union after the 4th, it got its star added in 1960 (as you note, stars are added only on July 4th). Counting the number of stars on flags in movies is a fun way to see if the producers / directors / writers are paying attention to historical details. Original 49-star flags are rare and collectable.

The flag's main pattern was established during The Revolutionary War, but has changed 26 times since then. The reason for these changes is due to a new star being added for each new state in the United States. Originally, a new stripe was supposed to fill that part, but it was thought by some that the growing number of stripes would eventually destroy the design of the flag.

In 1818, congress decided that there would be only 13 stripes and that one star would be added for each new state. There are no previous rules on how the stars would be placed on the flag. However, nowadays it is determined by the regulation of the president. If a new state is created, a star will be added on the 4th of July - the Independence Day of the United States.

The American flag is also part of our Easy Flag Quiz - check it out!

And you will also find the U.S. flag within our category Stars and stripes.

You'll find all the world flags on our start page.
Or browse some more flags from North America.

Find out more about USA on Wikipedia. You will allways learn something new!