Between Flag Day and Independence Day, summer brings out a lot of patriotism and many people put the American flag out on display. You may not think much about it when you see the red, white and blue flying, but did you know that the American flag has a history dating back almost 250 years?

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed an act establishing an official flag for our new nation. The resolution read: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

While Congress passed the resolution in 1777, there was not a uniform version of the flag in those early years. Most flags were individually sewn and not mass-produced, which led to an inconsistent appearance in flags.

Between 1777 and 1960 Congress passed several different flag acts. They changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag. Stars and stripes were added to reflect new states being added to our country.

In 1814, it was a large flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen a poem, now used as our national anthem. After seeing the flag flying over the fort after a particularly challenging battle, Key penned the “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which later became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

In 1912, President William Howard Taft signed an executive order that clarified what the flag should look like. This was the first time there was a consistent explanation of how the flag should appear.

The current version of the stars and stripes was adopted on July 4, 1960. It consists of 13 horizontal red and white stripes to represent the original 13 colonies. There are also 50 stars, which represent each of the states in the United States.