Flag Day by the numbers: 10 facts about the American flag
Flag Day is June 14 — do you know these key American flag facts?
Flag Day: How do you properly fold the American flag?
The Saratoga National Cemetery Honor Guard demonstrates how to properly fold the American flag on Flag Day.
The nation’s 106th Flag Day will be observed on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
Patriotic Americans throughout the country will pay tribute to the national flag, which was adopted nearly a year after the U.S. declared its independence.
In honor of Flag Day, here are 10 facts you should know about the American flag.
1777 – The first American flag was adopted on June 14, 1777, by the Second Continental Congress, which passed the Flag Act.
"Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation," an excerpt from the Journals of the Continental Congress said on page 464.
1916 – President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day on May 30, 1916, when he issued a proclamation stating he hoped Americans would show "significant expression to our thoughtful love of America" on June 14 each year.
27 – There have been 27 official versions of the American flag since its first adoption nearly 245 years ago. The flag’s star-and-stripe design has been amended on multiple occasions to reflect the number of states in the U.S. Hawaii was the last state to join in 1959.
This screen print illustration from 1941 depicts an American flag flying over Fort McHenry, based on Francis Scott Key's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." (GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)
13 – There are 13 alternating red and white stripes on the American flag. Each stripe represents the original 13 colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.
50 – On the blue field of the American flag, there are 50 white stars, which represent the 50 states that make up the U.S.
The 50-star American flag is the longest running in the nation's history. (iStock)
1960 – The current American flag was first raised on July 4, 1960, over the Fort McHenry National Historic Site in Maryland, according to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Eisenhower made the 50-star flag design official with Executive Order 10834 in August 1959.
3 – While various American flag designs have been created by artists should there be a new state added to the U.S., there have been three 51-star flag designs highlighted by The Flag Institute — an organization that "celebrates and promotes flags in all their variety."
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150 million – The Flag Manufacturers Association of America estimates that there are 150 million American flags sold each year.
An American household displays the nation's flag. (iStock)
51% – A YouGovAmerica survey found that slightly more than half (51%) of Americans have an American flag in their home.
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6 – There have been six American flags planted on the moon’s surface, according to NASA.
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