Crafting with the US Flag: What You Need to Know

With Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day all upon us soon, I thought it would be a good idea to go over some basics about the design of the United States Flag. Last year, I saw several flag and patriotic designs that didn’t portray the flag correctly – too many stripes, not enough stars, and so on. I made a note in my planner to remind myself that this year, I’d create a quick post about it.

Good trivia to know before we start: All rules and regulations having to do with the United States flag are handled through the Flag Code which was adopted on June 14, 1923. The Flag Code lays out how to fly a flag, the design of the US flag, how to dispose of a worn out US flag, and much more. However, the Flag Code does not impose penalties for misuse of the flag. This is handled on a state to state basis.

Things to Know When Crafting with a United States Flag Design

• The US flag has 13 equal sized stripes. The top stripe should be red and alternate red and white.
• The United States flag has 50, five point stars that should be arranged in 9 rows staggered horizontally and 11 rows staggered vertically.
• The blue part of the flag is called the union. Whether you create your flag design vertically or horizontally, the union should always be in the top left corner. (The exception to this is when the flag is on the right side of a vehicle or a service person’s uniform. In these cases, the union appears on the right side.)
• The bottom of the union should line up with the bottom of a red stripe.
• The official hexadecimal colors for the US flag are: white: #FFFFFF, Old Glory Red: #B22234, and Old Glory Blue: #3C3B6E.
• It’s acceptable to craft with previous versions of the US flag.
• According to the Flag Code, the US flag should not be used on clothing, drapes, bedding, costumes, uniforms, and more. However, it’s become more popular in modern times to do this. There’s a great discussion of flags on clothing at this link.
• Government works (such as the US flag design) are public domain. Need a refresher in public domain? Head to this post.
• It’s acceptable to make artistic renderings of the US flag.

The Specific Design for the US Flag

I found this great diagram of the exact dimensions of the flag. While these specifications are only for official governmental use flags, I thought it was fun to share.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Psst! Wanting to do some patriotic crafting? I’ve got a bunch of (free) files to get you started. Click here.

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