usa flag

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton 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 fifty U.S. states and the thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union.^[1] Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory,^[2] and The Star-Spangled Banner (also the name of the national anthem).

Because of its symbolism, the starred blue canton is called the "union". This part of the flag can stand alone as a maritime flag called the Union Jack.^[3] Compared to the flags of many other nations, the flag of the United States is notably complex, leading to expressions such as Huāqíguó ("flower flag nation"), a Chinese name for America used in the 19th and early 20th centuries.^[4]