The flag serves as a visual reminder of the array of freedoms that Americans enjoy. This stamp displays the banner in its full glory, seven red and six white bars straight and true, with 50 white stars sharply defined on a blue field.

The flag’s design dates to 1777, when the Continental Congress specified 13 horizontal stripes and 13 stars to honor the 13 original colonies. Various versions of the early flag continued to be used until, in 1818, the U.S. Congress standardized the design, mandating 13 stripes forever but a star for every state.

In the mid-1950s, anticipating statehood for both Alaska and Hawaii, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed a committee to create designs for two new flags. The last time the flag’s design changed was July 4, 1960, with the entrance of Hawaii into the United States the previous August.