The flag of the United States of America is a national symbol.

Every country has a special flag. When people from other countries see our flag, they know it belongs to the United States of America. Our flag is often called the "Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory." We honor our flag on Flag Day which is celebrated on June 14.

Our flag has 13 stripes. Seven stripes are red and six stripes are white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies of our country. Today there are 50 stars on our flag. Each star stands for one of the fifty states of our country.

The song, The Star Spangled Banner, is about our flag. It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 after he saw the flag still flying after a long and hard battle with the British. He thought the flag showed how important freedom was to our country. This song became our National Anthem in 1931.

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight;
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.

And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?