| 1776 | January 1 — The Grand Union flag is displayed on Prospect Hill. It has 13 alternate red and white stripes and the British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner (the canton). |
| 1776 | May — Betsy Ross reports that she sewed the first American flag |
| 1777 | June 14 — Continental Congress adopts the following: 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.(stars represent Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island) |
| 1787 | Captain Robert Gray carries the flag around the world on his sailing vessel (around the tip of South America, to China, and beyond). He discovered a great river and named it after his boat The Columbia. His discovery was the basis of America’s claim to the Oregon Territory. |
| 1795 | Flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes (Vermont, Kentucky) |
| 1814 | September 14 — Francis Scott Key writes “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It officially becomes the national anthem in 1931. |
| 1818 | Flag with 20 stars and 13 stripes (it remains at 13 hereafter) (Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi) |
| 1819 | Flag with 21 stars (Illinois) |
| 1820 | Flag with 23 stars (Alabama, Maine) first flag on Pikes Peak |
| 1822 | Flag with 24 stars (Missouri) |
| 1836 | Flag with 25 stars (Arkansas) |
| 1837 | Flag with 26 stars (Michigan) |
| 1845 | Flag with 27 stars (Florida) |
| 1846 | Flag with 28 stars (Texas) |
| 1847 | Flag with 29 stars (Iowa) |
| 1848 | Flag with 30 stars (Wisconsin) |
| 1851 | Flag with 31 stars (California) |
| 1858 | Flag with 32 stars (Minnesota) |
| 1859 | Flag with 33 stars (Oregon) |
| 1861 | Flag with 34 stars; (Kansas) first Confederate Flag (Stars and Bars) adopted in Montgomery, Alabama |
| 1863 | Flag with 35 stars (West Virginia) |
| 1865 | Flag with 36 stars (Nevada) |
| 1867 | Flag with 37 stars (Nebraska) |
| 1869 | First flag on a postage stamp |
| 1877 | Flag with 38 stars (Colorado) |
| 1890 | Flag with 43 stars (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho) |
| 1891 | Flag with 44 stars (Wyoming) |
| 1892 | “Pledge of Allegiance” first published in a magazine called “The Youth’s Companion,” written by Francis Bellamy. The words, “under God” were added on June 14, 1954. |
| 1896 | Flag with 45 stars (Utah) |
| 1908 | Flag with 46 stars (Oklahoma) |
| 1909 | Robert Peary places the flag his wife sewed atop the North Pole. He left pieces of another flag along the way. He was never censored for his action. |
| 1912 | Flag with 48 stars (New Mexico, Arizona) |
| 1945 | The flag that flew over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is flown over the White House on August 14, when the Japanese accepted surrender terms. |
| 1949 | August 3 — Truman signs bill requesting the President call for Flag Day (June 14) observance each year by proclamation. |
| 1959 | Flag with 49 stars (Alaska) |
| 1960 | Flag with 50 stars (Hawaii) |
| 1963 | Flag placed on top of Mount Everest by Barry Bishop. |
| 1969 | July 20 — The American flag is placed on the moon by Neil Armstrong. |
| 1995 | December 12 — The Flag Desecration Constitutional Amendment is narrowly defeated in the Senate. The Amendment to the Constitution would make burning the flag a punishable crime. |