What Do the Red Stripes on the U.S. Flag Stand For?
The thirteen stripes on the American flag represent the thirteen original colonies of the United States, and were kept as a reminder of our early nation, even as the number of stars on the flag grew to represent new states.
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The First Flag
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The inspiration for the first flag is debated. One school of thought holds that the red and white stripes were drawn from the coat of arms of the Washington family, which consisted of two red stripes on a white background, with three red stars above, a blazon now used as the flag of the District of Columbia.
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The Union Jack
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The colors of the American flag are also those used in the flag of Great Britain, the Union Jack. The earliest flag used in the United States, the Grand Union Flag, consisted of a Union Jack in the upper-left corner of a flag of thirteen red and white stripes.
The Significance of Red
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The only recorded official mention of the color red in the stripes comes from Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the Continental Congress. He stated, "White signifies purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue, vigilance, perseverance and justice."
An Expanding Nation
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When Vermont and Kentucky were added to the Union in 1791 and 1792, two more stars and two more stripes were added to the flag. Although fifteen stripes remained manageable, it became apparent that were a stripe added each time a new state joined the union, the flag would soon become unmanageable. As a result the number of stripes was returned to thirteen, representing the original thirteen colonies.
More Red Than White
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For more than a century the flag was produced with either six or seven red stripes, depending on who created it. In 1916 it was resolved that the official flag of the Executive Department and the Armed Forces would have seven red stripes and six white, creating a uniform standard that remains to this day.
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