Back Porch: American Flag

In honor of Independence Day, we’ve devoting our last page to the American flag. One of our country’s most recognizable and powerful symbols, the flag includes 13 red and white stripes, representing the original colonies, and 50 stars, representing each of the states. Although the design was adopted on June 14, 1777, beginning in 1818, new stars were added to the flag to represent each new state on the fourth of July each year, and the 50-star version, adopted on July 4, 1960, has been the longest in continuous use as of 2007, when it surpassed the 48-star flag.