portrait of the united states of america flag

Medium

Photography

Artist Notes

Portrait of flag of The United States of America, blowing in wind before a beautiful blue sky with white clouds. Photography by Bob Orsillo The national flag of the United States of America (the "American flag") consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the "Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory," and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (also the name of the national anthem). The flag has been changed 26 times since the new, 13-state union adopted it. The 48-star version went unchanged for 47 years, until the 49-star version became official on July 4, 1959 (the first July 4 following Alaska's admission to the union on January 3, 1959). The 47-years of the 48-star version had been the longest time the flag went unmodified until July 5, 2007, when the 50-star version of the Flag of the United States broke the record.