CIRCA - 1777 🇺🇸 - 13 equal, alternating red (top & bottom) & white horizontal stripes, with a canton of 50 white stars arranged on a blue field
HISTORY: The 1st flag of the continental union (prior to & during the war for Independence - 1775-'77), looked much like todays
flag, with the same red-white 13 stripes (representing the 13 British colonies that became the 1st states) but with a square ☐
version of the 🇬🇧 Union Jack🔍 in the canton, reflecting, (along with the borrowed red-white-blue🔍 color scheme,) the shared
cultural & ethnic heritage of the colonist with England.
Between 1777-'95 there were multiple variants of the 13 ⭑ stars (also for original 13 states)
all co-existing, including one with 6-pointed ✶ stars, one with stars arranged in an arch over "'76"
in the canton & stripe order switched to 7 white & 6 red, or the famous "Betsy Ross" variation of
circle of stars (c. 1792.)
After 1795 there was a new "Stars & Stripes" every time new states were added, increasing the number of stars (+ sometimes
stripes, as well, until the stripes were fixed at thirteen in 1818 to maintain the original symbolism,) with the current 50-star
configuration adopted in 1960, following Hawaii's admission as the 50th state.
VEXILLOLOGY:* The colors carry specific symbolic meanings in line with traditional European heraldry & derived from the
Great Seal of the United States:
The RED Stripes stand for hardiness & valor
The WHITE STRIPES + 50 ★ STARS (now 1 for every current state) is for purity & innocence
The BLUE Canton symbolize vigilance, perseverance & justice