United States Flag History

The American Flag has gone through many changes. On June 14, 1777 congress passed the first flag act. This was when it was decided that the American flag would consist of 13 stripes alternating in red and white, to represent the original 13 states. The union was depicted by 13 white stars on a blue background that represented unity. The flag has gone through many changes since then, but the main design has stayed true to the original.

A new star for each state.

One of the constantly changing aspects of the American flag was the addition of new stars for newly acquired states. In 1912 the first flag design, with specific proportions, was created and the stars were lined up in rows. Later, the rows of stars would change. As more states entered into the Union, more stars were added. In 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order that staggered the stars in nine rows horizontally and 11 rows vertically.

A school assignment leads to more than a grade.

After Hawaii and Alaska were made states, a high school student ended up designing the flag that we use now. It started out as a class project. Robert G. Heft was assigned a project to create a new flag representing all of the states. He tried to add stars without changing the pattern. This turned out to work against his grade on the project. His teacher only gave him a B because the flag lacked creativity. His teacher told him he could get a better grade if congress adopted his design. After sending his design to a representative, this is exactly what happened. His flag design has been the longest one used in the history of the flag.