Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton, referred to as the union and bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from Great Britain, which they went on to secure by their victory in the American Revolutionary War.
Oil painting depicting the 39 historical U.S. flags.
Our Banner in the Sky (1861) by Frederic Edwin Church
An American flag on the U.S. embassy in Warsaw during a German air raid in September 1939
The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building in 1977. The VAB has the largest U.S. flag ever used on a building, with the Bicentennial Star opposite the flag.
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours and symbols, which may also be used separately from the flag as a symbol of the nation. The design of a national flag is sometimes altered after the occurrence of important historical events. The burning or destruction of a national flag is a greatly symbolic act.
Johnson's new chart of national emblems, published c. 1868. The large flags shown in the corners are the 37-star flag of the United States (flown 1867–1890), upper left; the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, upper, right; the Russian Imperial Standard, lower left; and the French tricolore with inset Imperial Eagle, lower right. Various other flags flown by ships are shown. The Flag of Cuba is labelled "Cuban (so called)". The Chinese dragon on the
The first Italian flag brought to Florence by Francesco Saverio Altamura (1859)
A 1919 painting depicting the Brazilian flag being embroidered by a family.
The world's sixth tallest flagpole flying a 270 kg (595 lb) Flag of North Korea. It is 160 m (525 ft) in height, over Kijŏng-dong ("Peace village") near Panmunjom, the border of North Korea and South Korea.