Francis Hopkinson and the First American Flag: What We Know

Francis Hopkinson is one of the people most closely associated with the first Stars and Stripes. In 1780 he asked the new government to pay him for designing the “flag of the United States of America.” His documented claim gives historians a stronger basis for crediting him than the familiar Betsy Ross design legend. The exact appearance of the first flag, however, is not established.

Who was Francis Hopkinson?

Hopkinson was a New Jersey signer of the Declaration of Independence and a designer who worked on national symbols. The National Archives describes his contributions to the Great Seal, including stripes and a constellation of stars. He later served as a federal judge; he was not a U.S. district judge in 1775, before the federal courts were established.

What does the evidence show about the flag?

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars in a blue field. It did not settle one permanent arrangement for those stars. The Library of Congress credits Hopkinson with the design while noting that star arrangements varied among flag makers.

In 1780 Hopkinson requested compensation for designing the flag and other emblems. The Smithsonian National Postal Museum documents that claim. It does not make a particular surviving drawing the definitive 1777 flag. Designs with stars in rows, circles, and other patterns have been associated with the era; a reconstruction should be labeled as such.

What about Betsy Ross?

Ross was a real Philadelphia flag maker, but the popular story that she designed the first national flag, including a decisive demonstration of a five-pointed star, rests on later family tradition rather than contemporary documentation. Making a flag and designing the national pattern are also different claims. The National Archives’ flag history discusses Hopkinson and the Ross story.

Today’s thirteen-star flags are ways to commemorate the founding era; a particular star arrangement should not be presented as the proven first design. Explore a Made in USA thirteen-star circle flag as a historical tribute.