It seems to me that at the moment, the national flag of the United States of America is rightfully considered one of the most recognizable in the world. We can forget what the symbol of, say, Brazil, Sweden or Denmark looks like, mix up the order of bands in French, German or Ukrainian, but the American one is always identified.
You may have thought about the number of stars on the US flag more than once. I can honestly admit to myself. In school years, I did not just think about it, I even tried to count. Moreover, each time the number as a result turned out to be different, and this led me to a state of complete bewilderment. Now, looking back, I think that I just came across tiny and modest models made in China, and their manufacturers certainly did not try to adhere to the accuracy and reliability of the displayed characters.
In my article today, I am going to tell not only about the number of stars on the US flag, but also about the history of its creation as a whole. And in the end, I will introduce my readers to interesting facts related to this symbol of a huge and powerful country. For convenience, all material will be divided into several parts.
1. What is the United States Stars and Stripes?
The world-famous US flag, along with the Great Seal and the anthem, is considered the state symbol of the country. By the way, the current model was approved on July 4, Independence Day, 1960. Americans themselves often call it Stars and Stripes, which in translation into Russian means "stars and stripes."
The flag is a rectangular cloth of absolutely regular geometric shape (the ratio of width to length is 10:19), with the same horizontal stripes printed on it. There are 13 bands in total, seven of which are red and six are white. In the upper left corner there is a dark blue roof with five-pointed stars depicted on it . How many stars are on the US flag? Exactly 50.
2. Why do Stars and Stripes have exactly 13 bands and 50 stars?
This question cannot be answered without delving into the history of the country itself.
The once 13 British colonies, namely South Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, Delaware and Virginia formed a new independent state. Since then, 13 bands tell us just about this event.
Stars on the US flag ... As I said above, at the moment there are 50 of them. Of course, those who are fond of the traditions and culture of this country know that this is exactly the number of states that make up the country.
I will immediately explain that using the phrase "at the moment", I was not mistaken, but did it quite deliberately. Why? It’s just that this number is not constant, in the past there were fewer stars, and in the future it can quite increase.
3. Symbolism of the colors of the American flag
The red color of the stripes indicates valor and endurance; white - purity and innocence; and the dark blue on the roof is vigilance, zeal, and justice.
In general, you have probably noticed more than once that the blue color is much darker than the shades present in state symbols of other countries of the world. According to the official version, this shade of blue has a special name Navy Blue, which means “naval blue”.
This is far from accidental. Once it began to be used precisely from a practical point of view. In the XVIII century. such persistent dyes, as today, of course, did not exist yet, and the usual blue faded so quickly that soon the canvas acquired a pale blue hue. But the rich dark retained its properties longer. By the way, red on the American flag is also darker than a similar shade on the flags of other countries, and this was done intentionally and for the same reason.
4. Has the design of the flag ever changed ? How many stars on the US flag were there before?
Changed! And not even once! The number of stars depends on the number of states that make up the state. According to tradition, if during the year a new federal unit appears on the territory of the country, then in the next July 4, another new asterisk will appear on the flag. The number of bands remains unchanged.
Those. only at the moment we can unambiguously answer the question of how many stars are on the US flag. There are 50 of them! But what will happen in the future will be seen.