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What do the colors of the American flag mean?

What exactly do the colors of the American mean? Here are all the reasons behind using Red, White, and Blue.

The American Flag is symbolic in many ways. The alternating red and whites stripes represent the 13 British colonies that settled in America, while the stars represent each individual state. But what about the colors – why is the American Flag red, white and blue?


However, others speculate even further that George Washington had his own interpretation of Old Glory and her colors: stars were taken from the sky, the red was inspired by the British colors, and the white stripes indicate secession from the home country.

However, in regards to the Great Seal of the United States, as the book “Our Flag” published in 1989 by the House of Representatives states, “The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.” The colors originally were meant for the Seal, but have since evolved to include meaning for the flag as well.

While there are several speculations about the meaning behind the colors of the American Flag, the Continental Congress left behind no record as to why red, white and blue were chosen as the colors. The three colors are included in the Great Seal of the United States represented the ideals and beliefs of our Founding Fathers, and perhaps are an indication of their use in the American Flag.

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Flag History
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22 Responses

  1. cassandra says:

    very good wesite


  3. Nice! Just wanted to respond. I thoroughly loved your post. Keep up the great work on .

  4. Billy Bob says:

    good comment

  5. shomaha says:

    this is very good what you commented on this i think they mean red for blood and white for trust and blue for freedom

  6. lora says:

    thanks you just helped me with my eassy but it came to relize that i was wondering what does the colors mean?

  7. Derp says:

    That’s interesting. I had always thought that, besides the obvious stars, red stood for the blood shed in the American Revolution, white stood for courage and bravery, and that blue stood for freedom.

    But hey, the more you know.

  8. eileen parker says:

    I learned allot from this site, My father, Hugh J. Tucker, a Vietnam Vet.passed March 3,2013 … During his funeral, while the flag was being folded, the Pastor read us the meanings of the colors of the flag. However I was way 2 upset to pay attention. Well, I now no more then ever before.. Just Sorry It took my dads funeral for me to know this, Even for a Very Patriotic person like me… RIP dad….101 screaming eagles airborne..

  9. Moises Martinez says:

    that is a good article

  10. ironman says:

    Maybe they just had so many British flags lying around from when they were under British rule, that they just decided to use these flags as material for their new flag. As you know war can be extremely costly and they might not have had any more money to purchase more fine cloths and silks.

  11. This is a really good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
    A must read article!

  12. John says:

    I am a US Army JROTC Instructor. We teach our Cadets the meaning of the Colors of the Flag and the proper way to display, fold and care for the American Flag. This site states everything that I have ever been taught about the meaning of the Colors of our Flag. Most young people have no idea what the Flag represents. We are trying to help change that.

  13. Flag lover says:

    Thanks so much that is very intresting

  14. be buff says:

    I want to to thank you for this fantastic read!!

  15. Sophia Hamilton says:

    i loved this…thank u so much!

  16. Jones says:

    Wow this helped me a lot with my research

  17. Steve says:

    Can you tell me about a flag I Was Shown. It has 48 Gold Stars on a blue Background with the Red and White Stripes and a White border.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Well, I don’t exactly agree with you guys…

  19. I am says:

    Seems the direction of strips on the flags have meaning also. most civil flags have vertical strips ( for the living people or those that stand ) while horizontal strips ( or laying down like dead or lying in state such as corporation dead entity’s ) are on military /gov flags The peace flag of america or civil flag that flew over the customs building (google it )had the vertical strips and was an american flag

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