What is flag day? Here are 10 key facts to know

Volunteers honor fallen veterans in Lynnwood by placing flags on graves

Around 100 volunteers and veterans in Lynnwood placed flags on the graves of those who lost their lives fighting for the U.S.

The nation’s 108th Flag Day will be observed on Friday, June 14, 2024.

Patriotic Americans throughout the country will pay tribute to the national flag, which was adopted nearly a year after the U.S. declared its independence.

In honor of Flag Day, here are 10 facts you should know about the American flag.

1777 – The first American flag was adopted on June 14, 1777, by the Second Continental Congress, which passed the Flag Act.

"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," an excerpt from the Journals of the Continental Congress said on page 464.

US flags adorn the Memorial Day exhibit near the Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Hurlock, Maryland, on May 27, 2023, ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

1916 – President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day on May 30, 1916, when he issued a proclamation stating he hoped Americans would show "significant expression to our thoughtful love of America" on June 14 each year.

27 – There have been 27 official versions of the American flag since its first adoption nearly 245 years ago. The flag’s star-and-stripe design has been amended on multiple occasions to reflect the number of states in the U.S. Hawaii was the last state to join in 1959.

13 – There are 13 alternating red and white stripes on the American flag. Each stripe represents the original 13 colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.

50 – On the blue field of the American flag, there are 50 white stars, which represent the 50 states that make up the U.S.

1960 – The current American flag was first raised on July 4, 1960, over the Fort McHenry National Historic Site in Maryland, according to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. Eisenhower made the 50-star flag design official with Executive Order 10834 in August 1959.

3 – While various American flag designs have been created by artists should there be a new state added to the U.S., there have been three 51-star flag designs highlighted by The Flag Institute — an organization that "celebrates and promotes flags in all their variety."

150 million – The Flag Manufacturers Association of America estimates that there are 150 million American flags sold each year.

51% – A YouGovAmerica survey found that slightly more than half (51%) of Americans have an American flag in their home.

6 – There have been six American flags planted on the moon’s surface, according to NASA.