Flag of the United States

The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white starting with red, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag form a constellation, representing the 50 U.S. states united, while the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that won independence in the American Revolutionary War.

The flag of the United States is the nation's most widely recognized symbol. Within the United States, flags are frequently displayed on both public buildings and private residences. The flag is a common motif on decals for car windows, and on clothing ornamentation such as badges and lapel pins. Owing to the United States's emergence as a superpower in the 20th century, the flag is among the most widely recognized symbols in the world, and is used to represent the United States. The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism, and is flown on many occasions, with giant outdoor flags used by retail outlets to draw customers. Reverence for the flag has at times reached religion-like fervor: in 1919 William Norman Guthrie's book The Religion of Old Glory discussed "the cult of the flag" and formally proposed vexillolatry. Despite a number of attempts to ban the practice, desecration of the flag remains protected as free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Scholars have noted the irony that "he flag is so revered because it represents the land of the free, and that freedom includes the ability to use or abuse that flag in protest". Comparing…