How many stars on us flag

There also exist plans for a 52, 53, 54 and even a star flag should there be cause for one. Flag Institute: Change of Official Address. A new flag for Birmingham. Peter Waksman 18 September at pm. David 11 January at am. Venus 27 January at pm. John McCauley 9 March at pm. Jose A. Lopez 18 October at pm.

David 12 August at pm. David Warner 12 August at pm. Paul Klenk 13 January at am. Mike 13 February at am. Looks better with Dan 8 June at am. Sean Gulley-Ryan 19 September at pm. Alfred Lindsay 2 December at am. CaveHermit 17 January at am. Julian D A Wiseman 26 June at am. Join or Renew Online Now. Flag Days Nov. Flag Institute Tweets We spy an armorial banner flag and some actual coats of arms!

All Rights Reserved. Popular designs at the time were varied and most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. Given the scant archaeological and written evidence, it is unknown which design was the most popular at that time. The origin of the stars and stripes design is uncertain. A popular story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch by George Washington who personally commissioned her for the job.

Another woman, Rebecca Young, has also been credited as having made the first flag by later generations of her family. Another, more likely, popular theory is that the flag was designed by Congressman Francis Hopkinson.

Hopkinson was the only person to have made such a claim during his own lifetime, when he sent a bill to Congress for his work. The payment was not made, however, because it was determined he had already received a salary as a member of Congress, and he was not the only person to have contributed to the design.

It should be noted that no one else contested his claim at the time. In , the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the union.

For a time the flag was not changed when subsequent states were admitted, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter. Reid, United States Navy, in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would remain at thirteen to honor the original colonies.

The flag became the official U. President James Monroe was the only president to serve under this flag as well as the previous two flags. The flag expanded to 24 stars with the addition of Missouri in Missouri, a slave state, was admitted as part of the Missouri Compromise, which sought to achieve a balance of free and slave states during the antebellum period.

The compromise included the admission of Maine, a free state, which had separated from Massachusetts and become a state the previous year. Arkansas joined the Union as a slave state on June 15, Less than a month later, its star was included in the U. Arkansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and carved out of what became the Missouri Territory to become its own territory. Michigan was admitted to the Union in as a free state to help maintain the balance between slave and free states.

Michigan's admission had been thwarted because of a border dispute with Ohio — which had been admitted as a state in — but President Andrew Jackson helped Michigan save face by awarding it land from the Upper Peninsula, and then it was granted statehood, boosting the number of states to Florida, a former possession of the Spanish empire, was admitted to the Union in , raising the total number of U.

It would not remain in the Union for long: Florida would secede in In , the flag would undergo another change, this time because of the admission of Texas. Before becoming the 28th state, the Lone Star state had broken away from Mexico in It was an independent republic before joining the Union and becoming the biggest state in land mass in the contiguous 48 states. Iowa was admitted to the Union on Dec. Its star was added to the U.

Originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, Iowa grew dramatically because of its rich farmland. Iowa had been established as a U. Wisconsin became a state on May 29, , adding the 30th star to the U. Not all residents of Wisconsin were enthusiastic about statehood. They had rejected it four times previously because they were concerned statehood would mean higher taxes. The Gold Rush that began with the discovery of the precious metal in helped fast-track California to statehood in California became the 31st star on the American flag the following July 4.

The admission of California fulfilled America's manifest destiny of a nation extending from sea to sea. On the eve of the Civil War, Minnesota was admitted to the Union on May 11, , and represented as the 32nd state on the flag less than two months later. Minnesota was admitted as a free state. America's expansion surged to the Northwest with the admission of Oregon on Feb. Oregon, which had become a U. Kansas became the 34th state to join the Union.

Voter fraud over whether the state would be admitted as a slave state or a free state delayed its admission. Kansas joined the Union on Jan. The onset of the Civil War did not halt the admission of states to the Union.

The western part of Virginia was pro-Union and contained many abolitionists.