Betsy Ross flag

The Betsy Ross flag is an early design for the flag of the United States that first appeared in a painting of George Washington at Trenton by John Trumbull. This flag had red stripes outermost and stars arranged in a circle. The name, first used more than 100 years after the flag appeared in a painting, stems from the legend that a Philadelphia upholsterer, Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross, designed and produced this flag. The design of the Betsy Ross flag conformed to the Flag Act of 1777, passed early in the American Revolutionary War, which merely specified 13 alternating red and white horizontal stripes and 13 white stars in a blue canton. Today, the flag is often used as a patriotic emblem of the American Revolution and of U.S. values more broadly. According to some historians, the Betsy Ross flag (and subsequent U.S. flag designs) still retains official status as the Flag Act of 1777 was never formally repealed by the U.S. Congress.