How Many Stars Are on the United States Flag?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 27, 2020

There are 50 stars on the United States flag. The number of stars represents the number of states in the union. The flag has 13 stripes to represent the 13 original colonies that declared independence from Britain.

The American flag has had 50 stars since July 4, 1960, after Hawaii was admitted into the union. Before 1960, there were 26 other versions of the flag, with 25 involving changes of the stars only. The first official national flag was approved by Congress in 1777 and had 13 stars on the blue section, but there was no official pattern and several variations existed.