Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

For the design of the flag made in accordance with this resolution it was decided to make the stripes of equal width and the stars five-pointed.

Vermont was admitted as a State in 1791 and Kentucky was admitted in 1792, and as a result an act of Congress approved on January 13, 1794, provided:

That from and after the first day of May, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white. That the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field.

The rapid increase in the number of States in the succeeding years caused much confusion regarding the exact design of the flag and there came to be a great diversity as to the numbers of stars and stripes. In order to clear up all doubt the Fifteenth Congress passed an act, which was approved by the President on April 4, 1818, entitled,

An Act to Establish the Flag of the United States

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue field.

Section 2. And be it further enacted, That on the admission of every 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 then next succeeding such admission.

In accordance with this law there are at present forty-eight stars in the union of the flag. The proportions of the national flag as prescribed by the Presidential Executive Order No. 1637, dated October 29, 1912, are as follows:

Hoist (or width) of flag1
Fly (or length) of flag1.9
Hoist (or width) of union ⁷/₁₃
Fly (or length) of union.76
Width of each stripe¹/₁₃