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Hey, there were 15 stars and stripes - maybe it was made by people from Vermont (14th state) or Kentucky (15th)?? ;-) Ok, better let´s get back to the topic, this is a serious thread.

Hey, there were 15 stars and stripes - maybe it was made by people from Vermont (14th state) or Kentucky (15th)?? ;-) Ok, better let´s get back to the topic, this is a serious thread.

Quick digression history lesson, with image:

http://www.nps.gov/fomc/tguide/Lesson8a.htm

The larger of the two flags had stripes two feet wide and stars 24 inches from point to point. At that time, it was the practice to add one star and one stripe for each new state joining the Union. In 1814, the official United States flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes.
The 30' X 42' flag was the one that Francis Scott Key saw on the morning of September 14, 1814. It inspired him to write the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner." Today, this flag is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

The American flag did have fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. The protocol was to add and star AND a stripe, until it was realized how untenable that would be as more states joined the union.

Then the design returned to thirteen stripes to honor the original thirteen states.