06/14/2026
Today is a highly significant date in American history, marking both the birth of the U.S. Army in 1775 and the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress in 1777, which is celebrated annually as Flag Day.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag, stating that the American flag should consist of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field.
Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a Presidential proclamation establishing a National Flag Day on June 14, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes in many ways–displaying the flag in the front of their homes, parades, and other patriotic observances. Prior to 1916, many localities and a few states had been celebrating the day for years. Congressional legislation designating that date as the National Flag Day was signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1949; the legislation also called upon the President to issue a Flag Day proclamation every year.
According to legend, in 1776, George Washington commissioned Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross to create a flag for the new nation. Scholars, however, credit the flag’s design to Francis Hopkinson, who also designed the Great Seal and first coin of the United States. Even so, Ross most likely met Washington and certainly sewed early American flags in her family’s Philadelphia upholstery shop. To date, there have been twenty-seven official versions of the flag, but the arrangement of the stars varied according to the flag-makers’ preferences until 1912 when President Taft standardized the then-new flag’s forty-eight stars into six rows of eight. The forty-nine-star flag (1959-60), as well as the fifty-star flag, also have standardized star patterns. The current version of the flag dates to July 4, 1960, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959.
Other pivotal milestones that occurred on this day include:
1775: The Second Continental Congress officially established the Continental Army, creating a unified military force for the 13 colonies and marking the birth of the U.S. Armed Forces.
1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law that officially added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
