Fifteen Stars and Fifteen Stripes

The national flag of Great Britain was the flag of her American Colonies until the Revolution. It was a red flag bearing in its left hand upper corner, on a blue field, the red cross of St. George united with the white cross of St. Andrew, which represented the union of Scotland and England in 1707.

When the American Colonies separated from the mother country, a new ensign or flag was demanded by the revolted Colonies. The only change made at first was the dividing of the red field into thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, denoting the union of the Colonies. Under this flag the early battles of the Revolution were fought. But the first legally established national emblem was that adopted by the Colonial Congress, June 14th, 1777.

George Washington made a pencil sketch, combining thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with thirteen white stars in the form of a circle on a blue field in the upper left hand corner. This was the design accepted by the Colonial Congress in 1777, and which remained the national emblem for seventeen years. A committee of Congressmen, accompanied by the President, soon after its adoption called at a small two-story house, No. 239 Arch St., Philadelphia, and engaged Mrs. Betsy Ross to make the flag.

Col. Trumbull represents this new national flag as used at the surrender of Burgoyne, October 17th, 1777.

On January 13th, 1794, on the motion of Senator Bradley, of Vermont, it was resolved that two additional stripes and two additional stars should be added on May 1st, 1795. The change was made because two new States, Vermont and Kentucky, had been added to the Union. This was the United States flag for twenty-three years, and under it were fought the last battles with the mother country, 1812-14. December, 1817, Mr. Wendover, of New York, proposed another alteration, saying, had the flag never been altered, he would oppose any change in it, but now one seemed to be required, as the present flag did not represent the number of States affiliated in the Union. His action resulted in the passage of a law, approved April 4th, 1818, as follows:

"Be it enacted. That from and after the fourth of July next, the flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be twenty stars, white, in a blue field.

"And that, on the admission of a new State into the Union, one star be added to the Union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July succeeding such admission." The width of the flag should be two-thirds of its length.

This flag of thirteen stripes, with twenty stars, went into effect July 4th, 1818, and is still the prescribed national emblem of the United States of America, though its field is now studded with fifty stars.