# American flag colors and design meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880 "2010-12-20T22:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f475e1/32.png) [@Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pierrot_Le_Fou)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/1 "2010-12-20T22:01:41Z")
Do the American flag colors and design mean anything, other a star for each state and a strip for the original 13? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/2 "2010-12-20T22:09:33Z")
Straight from the US government’s “US Government for Kids” site: [Error! Page Not Found !!](http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/symbols/flag.html) ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/3 "2010-12-21T00:06:31Z")
The explanation of the colours cited by that site smells like retcon to me. I suspect they were chosen because those were the colours of the British flag, more than any other reason. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/4 "2010-12-21T00:21:43Z")
That explanation is not for the colors of the flag; they say rather clearly: “While the flag’s colors did not have a specific meaning at the time, the colors were significant for the Great Seal of 1782.” There are a lot of red, white and blue flags; Britain, France, Holland, USA, and many nations founded or inspired by them adopted the same colors and/or designs. ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/5 "2010-12-21T00:34:04Z")
This is the 1707 design of the flag of the British East India Company: > **[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_British_East_India_Company_(1707).svg)** > > Original file ‎(SVG file, nominally 1,000 × 600 pixels, file size: 601 bytes) > Data from FOTW http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-eic.html. > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > More than 100 pages use this file. > The following list shows the first 100 pages that use this file only. > A full list is available. It is practically the exact same flag as George Washington’s flag of 1776. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/6 "2010-12-21T00:48:15Z")
> [@Apollon](#): > > The explanation of the colours cited by that site smells like retcon to me. I suspect they were chosen because those were the colours of the British flag, more than any other reason. Don’t know if that’s true, although note that Britain used [this flag](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Union_flag_1606_%28Kings_Colors%29.svg), not [this familiar one](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg). The US flag has been borrowed by other places, notably Puerto Rico and some states, and Liberia. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-flag-colors-and-design-meaning/564880/7 "2010-12-21T04:26:50Z")
As **Apollon** notes, there was ample precedent for the red and white stripes. The white stars on the blue background in the canton were explained in the [Flag Act of 1777](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Acts_(United_States)#Flag_Act_of_1777), passed by the Second Continental Congress: > [@](#): > > “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be **thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.** ”