Do you know the flag's history? According to American legend, in June 1776, George Washington commissioned Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, to create a flag for the new nation in anticipation of a declaration of its independence.

On June 14, 1777, John Adams spoke about the flag at a meeting of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He said, "Resolved, that the flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." The American flag, in the form now familiar to us, was first flown over the Capitol on April 12, 1818. There have been twenty-seven versions of the flag over the years; stars have been added to it as states have entered the Union. The current version dates to July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.