Debut of 50-Star Flag

Date: July 4, 1960 • Location: Philadelphia, United States

The 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state over ten months prior (August 21, 1959), in accordance with the Flag Acts.

The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white starting with red, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag form a constellation, representing the 50 U.S. states united, while the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that won independence in the American Revolutionary War.