The “American” flag that was never going to fly.

At the start of the American Revolution there was no national flag. Participating regiments fought under their own flags. So, when the Second Continental Congress met during the summer of 1775, they set out to create a unifying flag for the Continental Army.

The initial design featured 13 alternating red and white stripes with a Union Jack in the corner. Unsurprisingly there were those who opposed anything that included the British symbol. And George Washington realized including the Union Jack wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring for the revolution. That design simply wouldn’t fly.

As the story goes, during the summer of 1776, Washington, Robert Morris, and Colonel George Ross visited a relative of Colonel Ross named Betsy and showed her a sketch that included 13 stripes and 13 stars. Betsy Ross’s contribution was to suggest the stars be 5-pointed, not 6-pointed, and arranged in a circle.

A ‘Betsy Ross’ flag flying outside San Francisco City Hall

Two years later, on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that, “…the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white,” and that, “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

That design did “fly” as the official flag and remained unchanged until 1795 when two stars were added for the new states of Kentucky and Vermont. Various iterations followed as states were added until the final version including all 50 states was raised on July 4th, 1960.