On July 4th, 1776, the unofficial flag of the new united states of America had the familiar red and white stripes, but no stars. There was a British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner. It was called the Grand Union Flag. Within a year, Congress passed the Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777, calling for “thirteen stripes, alternate red and white,” and replacing the British symbolism with “thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The “Stars and Stripes” became the official flag of the new nation.

Forty years later, in 1817, Congress updated the number of stars to the current number of states—twenty at the time—and stipulated that whenever a new state is admitted to the Union, a star should be added to the flag on the following 4th of July. As the nation grew steadily during the 19th Century, the number of stars on the flag changed frequently—often just one star at a time. Sometimes all the flags would become obsolete after just one year. Flag makers had fairly steady work. They didn’t have a change every year, but their deadline was always the same day of the year—Independence Day.

On June 14, 1877, on the 100th anniversary of the original flag resolution, the first national Flag Day was observed. Weeks later, on the 4th, the 38th star was added, representing the new state of Colorado. There would then be an unusually long 13 years before the flag would change again. It was a challenging period for the flag industry.

Some flag makers tried to anticipate the addition of states (and stars), and jumped the gun. When Dakota Territory was lobbying for statehood in 1889, some 39-star flags were produced. When two states emerged on November 2nd, it looked like a 40-star flag would be needed. But then Montana was admitted on November 8th, and Washington became the 42nd state on the 11th.

As Independence Day of 1890 approached, flag makers were confident the next flag would have 42 stars, and they produced lots of them. Flag shop owners must have been “seeing stars” when President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill admitting Idaho to the Union on July 3rd. The Bismarck Tribune reported the event under the headline “43 Stars.” Five stars—not four—were to be added to the flag, on one day’s notice. Unofficial flags such as the 39-star or 42-star are valued by collectors and museums today.

Written by Russell Ford-Dunker

Sources:
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/flag.htm
http://www.mapletreepublishing.com/BoyScouts/us_flag_historical_timeline.htm
http://www.indstate.edu/community/vchs/ht/ht070184.htm
http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Information/qa/qa4.htm

This text and audio may not be copied without securing prior permission from North Dakota Public Radio.