Today in History

April 4, 1818

The Flag Act of 1818

The original flag of the United States had 13 stars and 13 stripes in honor of the original colonies. In 1795, the flag had two additional stars and stripes. By 1818, there were 20 states, but still only 15 stars. On April 4, 1818 Congress passed a Flag Act decreeing that the number of stars would be increased to 20 and that a new star would be added each time a state was added. The number of stripes was reduced to 13. According to the Flag Act of 1818, the flag is to be updated on July 4th following the admittance of a new state. The most recent update to the flag occured in 1960 after Hawaii was added as the 50th state in 1959. As of July 4, 2007, the 50 star version has been the longest in use.

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