The first American flag had a circle of stars representing the 13 original colonies. Betsy Ross is said to have sewn the first flag. She owned an upholstery business in Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
“There’s no way to prove that Ross created that first flag,” says Kehres. “But she was a woman who owned her own business, which was pretty impressive considering the culture at the time.”
The flag has changed since it was introduced. It gained stars as new states were formed. The stars became arranged in an array of rows and columns. Anytime a new state joins the U.S., the flag is updated the following Fourth of July. The 50th star, for the state of Hawaii, was added on July 4, 1960. That was almost 200 years after the creation of the first flag!