Stripes

• The flag contains seven red and six white alternating stripes, beginning and ending with red. The 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies that became the first American states. They were, in chronological order from 1787 to 1790, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island. Originally, a new stripe was added to the flag each time a new state joined the union. But that generated a cumbersome and unwieldy flag, so Congress limited the flag to the original 13 stripes in 1818.
  
  

Stars

• The Congressional resolution of 1777 states that the flag's stars represent "a new constellation." Each of the 13 stars symbolized one of the original 13 states. The Congressional act of 1818 also permitted a new star added to the flag as each new state joined the union. When the flag reached 48 stars in 1912, President William Taft issued an Executive Order requiring five-pointed stars with one point facing upward arranged in six horizontal rows of eight stars each. The flag reached the current 50 stars in 1959.
  
  

Colors

• According to the book "Our Flag" published by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1989, the flag's colors didn't have any particular meaning in the original design. When Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States in 1782, Charles Thompson, one of its designers, told Congress that white symbolizes purity and innocence, red denotes hardiness and valor, and blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.
  
  

Proportions

• President Taft's 1912 Executive Order also established proportions for the flag. Regardless of its actual size, any flag's length is 1.9 times its height. The canton is 53.85 percent of the height and 76 percent of the flag's length. Each star is 6.16 percent of the length and each stripe is one-thirteenth or 7.69 percent of the flag's height.
  
  

Gold Fringe

• Some flags include gold fringe around the outside edge, and some don't. The fringe, which is optional and is neither required nor prohibited by law, doesn't symbolize anything. The fringed flags are usually used indoors for ceremonial purposes.