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48 free The American Flag trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The flag of the United States has been redesigned 26 times, flown over Fort McHenry at 30 by 42 feet, sewn into a bedspread to hide it from Confederates, planted six times on the Moon and burned outside a Republican convention in a case that reached the Supreme Court. It also has no legally defined shade of red or blue, and the most famous story about who made the first one was first told nearly a century after the fact. These 48 questions cover the flag from the 1777 resolution to the 50-star version ordered by Eisenhower: the Flag Acts of 1794 and 1818, the Grand Union Flag, Francis Hopkinson's claim for a cask of wine, Mary Pickersgill's garrison flag and the anthem it inspired, Captain William Driver's Old Glory, the Bennington '76', Bernard Cigrand's first Flag Day, the Pledge of Allegiance and its 1954 addition, the Flag Code's rules on dipping, folding and half-staff, the Iwo Jima photograph, the Lunar Flag Assembly and Texas v. Johnson. Easy questions stick to the star and stripe counts and Flag Day; the hardest ask about Pantone numbers, the 1908 Olympics and the Flower Flag. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a Fourth of July or Flag Day round.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many stripes has the U.S. flag had since the Flag Act of 1818?
Thirteen
The stripes stand for the thirteen colonies, while the stars (50 since 1960) stand for the states.
Q 02On what date does the United States observe Flag Day?
June 14
It marks the day in 1777 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes; the U.S. Army also celebrates its birthday on June 14.
Q 03Which state's admission prompted the 50-star flag design adopted in 1960?
Hawaii
Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959, prompting the 50-star flag that became official in 1960; Alaska's admission that January had produced a short-lived 49-star flag first.
Q 04How many horizontal rows of stars does the 50-star U.S. flag have?
Nine
The 50-star flag arranges its stars in nine horizontal rows that alternate six and five stars, producing eleven staggered columns.
Q 05How many times has the flag's design been officially modified since 1777?
26
The design has changed 26 times, making the 50-star flag the 27th official version; in 2007 it became the longest-used of them all.
Q 06Which president ordered the 50-star flag by executive order in 1959?
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Executive Order 10834 was signed on August 21, 1959, and the flag became official the following July 4.
Q 07What filled the canton of the Continental Colours flag of 1775–77?
The British Union Jack
It kept the Union Jack alongside 13 red-and-white stripes, and closely resembled the flag of the East India Company.
Q 08Who first flew the Continental Union Flag aboard the ship Alfred on December 3, 1775?
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones, then a Continental Navy lieutenant on Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred at Philadelphia, later claimed he was the first to hoist the Grand Union flag, on December 3, 1775.
Q 09What did the 1777 Flag Resolution say the stars represented?
A new constellation
The resolution of June 14, 1777 called for 'thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation', but said nothing about arrangement, so makers used circles, rows and even one big star.
Q 10Who was the only person to claim in his lifetime that he designed the U.S. flag?
Francis Hopkinson
Francis Hopkinson, a New Jersey signer of the Declaration, billed Congress in 1780 for designing the flag and other government devices; Congress never paid him.
Q 11What payment did the flag's self-proclaimed designer first request from Congress in 1780?
A quarter cask of public wine
His later bills asked for cash instead, and Congress declined on the grounds that he already drew a salary as a member.
Q 12Who first publicly told the story that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag, and when?
Her grandson, in 1870
Her grandson William Canby first told the story in an 1870 paper to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, nearly a century after the supposed visit, and admitted he had no documentary proof.
Q 13Per Ross family lore, what did Betsy Ross persuade Washington to change about the stars?
Q 21Which Ohio teenager is popularly credited with designing the 50-star flag as a school project?
Robert G. Heft
Robert G. Heft of Lancaster, Ohio, said he sewed a 50-star flag for a 1958 high-school project; no official record supports the story, and later investigation found its key details unverifiable.
Q 22What nickname did the Stars and Stripes acquire in Canton, China, after arriving in 1784?
Flower Flag
The name stuck: American ginseng is known in Chinese as 'flower flag' ginseng, and Citibank trades in China as 'Flower Flag Bank'.
Q 23Which 1861 event turned the banner into a popular national symbol, sparking 'Flagmania'?
The Battle of Fort Sumter
From six points to five
She is said to have shown that five-pointed stars were faster to cut, though no archival evidence supports the story.
Q 14What was Betsy Ross's trade?
Upholsterer
Betsy Ross was an upholsterer; her Philadelphia shop did make flags for the Pennsylvania Navy, and a May 1777 State Navy Board record orders payment for her 'ship's colours'.
Q 15Which fort is traditionally credited with flying the first Stars and Stripes in battle?
Fort Stanwix
Fort Stanwix, besieged by St. Leger's force in August 1777, is traditionally credited with the first Stars and Stripes in battle; its improvised flag was cut from shirts and a scarlet garment, and may have been a Grand Union design.
Q 16Which two states' admission raised the count to 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795?
Vermont and Kentucky
Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) brought the count to fifteen stars and fifteen stripes from May 1, 1795; it is the only official U.S. flag that has not had thirteen stripes.
Q 17The Flag Act of 1818 restored 13 stripes and set new stars to be added on which date?
July 4
The 1818 act, passed at the suggestion of naval captain Samuel C. Reid, restored thirteen stripes and ordered each new star added on the July 4 following a state's admission.
Q 18Which star counts never appeared on an official flag, since no Flag Act passed 1794–1818?
16 through 19
The 1818 act jumped straight to twenty stars, so Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana never got a flag of their own.
Q 19The 1912 executive order for the 48-star flag was the first to specify what?
An official arrangement of the stars
President Taft's Executive Order 1556 of 1912 was the first to set an official arrangement of the stars, six rows of eight with one point up; earlier rectangular and circular patterns had been left to makers.
Q 20On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag surpassed which earlier version as the longest-used?
The 48-star flag
The 48-star flag served 47 years, from 1912 through both world wars until Alaska's 49th star in 1959.
Before the Civil War, the flag was rarely seen outside forts, government buildings and ships.
Q 24Who sewed the 15-star garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814?
Mary Pickersgill
Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, was paid $405.90 in 1813 for the garrison flag; she was helped by her daughter, two nieces and a 13-year-old indentured servant, Grace Wisher.
Q 25What were the original dimensions of the Fort McHenry garrison flag?
30 by 42 feet
The garrison flag measured 30 by 42 feet; Major Armistead wanted one so large the British could not miss it, and it weighed about 50 pounds with stars about two feet across.
Q 26How many stars remain on the surviving Star-Spangled Banner flag?
Fourteen
Fourteen of the fifteen stars remain: one star was cut out and given away as a gift, and its whereabouts are unknown; about eight feet of the fly end were also snipped for souvenirs.
Q 27Who wrote the poem 'Defence of Fort M'Henry' after watching the 1814 bombardment?
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer detained with the British fleet while negotiating Dr. William Beanes's release, wrote the poem; it was set to John Stafford Smith's 'The Anacreontic Song'.
Q 28In what year did Congress make 'The Star-Spangled Banner' the official national anthem?
1931
Congress made it the national anthem in 1931, when Herbert Hoover signed the joint resolution on March 3; the Navy had used it officially since 1889.
Q 29Which sea captain coined the nickname 'Old Glory' for his own flag?
William Driver
Captain William Driver of Salem named his flag 'Old Glory'; he later hid it inside a coverlet in Nashville so Confederates could not seize it, and produced it when Union troops took the city in 1862.
Q 30What small symbol did Old Glory's owner sew into the flag's corner in 1860?
A white anchor
A small white anchor was sewn into the canton's corner to mark Driver's seafaring career; the family also added ten stars, bringing the flag to 34, during the same repair.