 The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, By her family's own admission, Ross ran an upholstery business, and she had never made a flag as of the supposed visit in June 1776.Furthermore, her grandson admitted that his own search through the Journals of Congress and other official records failed to find corroborating evidence for his grandmother's story.The family of Rebecca Young claimed that she sewed the first flag.