There is absolutely no evidence that Betsy Ross sewed the first, or any, early flag. In fact, the myth was not even created or publicized until almost a century later when Ross’s grandson, William Canby, suggested the story in 1870.
In 1795, in direct contradiction of the 1777 resolution, the design of the flag was changed to include 15 stripes and 15 stars to represent the two new states joining the Union, Vermont and Kentucky.
This 15 stripe and 15 star flag was the flag designated as the “Star Spangled Banner” as it was the official flag at the time that Francis Scott Key wrote what would become the National Anthem of the United States. As new states entered the Union no additional stars or stripes were added, probably because it was felt that the flag would become too cluttered if this pattern were to continue.
In 1818 Congress passed a plan which would come to be known as the Flag Act of 1818. This act established many of the characteristics of the flag we know today. The flag of the day was changed to include 20 stars, one for each of the states then admitted to the Union but the number of stripes was reduced to 13 to honor the original 13 colonies. The Act also specified that new versions of the flag would become official on the first 4 July following the admission of new states.
It would not be until 1912, with the adoption of the 48 star flag, that the arrangement of the stars in the blue field would be standardized into the staggered arrangement of nine rows with every other row having five or six stars.
For a flag as well known and recognizable as the flag of the United States is in today’s world, it seems surprising to me that the official design specifications were so long in coming.
Of course there is much more detail to the overall story and for those details I would refer interested readers to this more comprehensive treatment of the subject.
Our next series of entries will focus on the flags of the 50 states memorialized by the 50 stars on the modern flag, so stay tuned as we start with the First State, Delaware.