The first two new states were Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792). The Stars and Stripes changed on May 1, 1795, when Congress enacted the second Flag Resolution, which mandated that new stars and stripes be added to the flag when new states were admitted to the Union. The new Stars and Stripes formed part of the military colours carried on September 11, 1777, at the Battle of the Brandywine, perhaps its first such use. Rows of stars (4-5-4 or 3-2-3-2-3) were common, but many other variations also existed. Today that pattern is popularly known as the “ Betsy Ross flag,” although the widely circulated story that she made the first Stars and Stripes and came up with the ring pattern is unsubstantiated. The designer of the flag-most likely Congressman Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Philadelphia-may have had a ring of stars in mind to symbolize the new constellation.
That first Flag Resolution read, in toto, “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” The layout of the stars was left undefined, and many patterns were used by flag makers. The first official national flag, formally approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, was the Stars and Stripes. The version carried by the Minutemen of Culpeper County, Virginia, for example, included not only the rattlesnake and the “Don’t Tread on Me” motto but also Virginia patriot Patrick Henry’s famous words “Liberty or Death.” Various versions of “Don’t Tread on Me” coiled-rattlesnake flags appeared on many 18th-century American colonial banners, including several flown by military units during the Revolutionary War. Another popular early flag, that of the 1765 Sons of Liberty, had only nine red and white stripes. As the flag of the Continental Army, it flew at forts and on naval vessels. The flag had 13 horizontal stripes (probably of red and white or of red, white, and blue) and, in the canton, the first version of the British Union Flag ( Union Jack). George Washington, whose headquarters were nearby.
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