U.S. #3403e
33¢ Francis Hopkinson Flag (1777)
The Stars and Stripes

Issue Date: June 14, 2000
City: Baltimore, MD
Quantity: 4,000,000
Printed by: Banknote of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 10.5 x 11
Color: Multicolored

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U.S. #3403e
33¢ Francis Hopkinson Flag (1777)
The Stars and Stripes

Issue Date: June 14, 2000
City: Baltimore, MD
Quantity: 4,000,000
Printed by: Banknote of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 10.5 x 11
Color: Multicolored

The Stars and Stripes set of 20 stamps chronicles the development of the American flag from Colonial times to the present. Each flag has an interesting story behind it. The design of the Francis Hopkinson flag was once attributed to Betsy Ross. Historians now believe this often-told tale is untrue. Adopted on June 14, 1777, the birthday of the Hopkinson flag is celebrated each year as Flag Day. This was the first flag to feature both the stars and stripes in its design. 

The Francis Hopkinson Flag has 13 red and white stripes with blue canton bearing 13 six-pointed stars in a circle.

Francis Hopkinson was the only individual to actually claim the credit for the design of the U.S. flag at the time. He billed Congress for "a quarter cask of the public wine" for his efforts.  Congress did not deny his claim outright but stalled it for years.  Only after Hopkinson submitted his bill again, “along with other claims for other emblems”, did Congress act on it, denying it because Hopkinson was not the only person who designed the flag “and other emblems.”

Betsy Ross Stamp

On January 2, 1952, the US Post Office Department issued a commemorative stamp honoring Betsy Ross, one day after her 200th birthday.

Elizabeth Griscom “Betsy” Ross was born on January 1, 1752, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The eighth of seventeen children, Betsy was raised in a Quaker household and learned to sew from her great-aunt.

After attending school, Betsy became an apprentice to an upholsterer, where she met and fell in love with John Ross.  The couple eloped and she was expelled from the church.  They then started their own upholstery business where they reportedly befriended George Washington.

When the war began, Betsy’s husband was killed, possibly in a gunpowder explosion.  Betsy continued the upholstery business and was kept busy making tents and blankets and repairing uniforms.  She was also the official flag maker of the Pennsylvania Navy.  Betsy married twice in the following years (her second husband was imprisoned in England) and had seven children.

After the war, Betsy continued with her upholstery business in Philadelphia.  She retired in 1827 and spent her final years with her children.  She died on January 30, 1836.

The Betsy Ross Flag Story

The tale of the Betsy Ross flag was generally unknown prior to 1870.  That was when William Canby first told the Pennsylvania Historical Society of his grandmother’s place in our flag’s creation.

According to Canby, back in 1776, General George Washington came to Ross’ upholstery shop to commission a flag based on a rough design.  Ross made some adjustments (including changing the number of points on the stars) and sewed the original Stars and Stripes.  It was this flag that was presented to Congress and confirmed as the nation’s emblem.

With no actual records and nothing but hearsay to go on, Canby was largely disbelieved. But by 1873, his story was running in Harper’s Weekly.  The audience grew significantly, as did belief.

Other descendants of Betsy Ross have continued the legend, and even embellished a little.  And supporters are always looking for historical evidence to prove the story.  But today, it is often dismissed as a myth or considered a fable.

What was once known as the Betsy Ross flag is now called the Francis Hopkinson flag, after the member of the Continental Congress whose claims date back to the Revolutionary era and are considered more credible.

When the Betsy Ross stamp was issued in 1952, the legend of the Betsy Ross flag was still commonly accepted as history.  The stamp design was based on a painting by Charles H. Weisgerber that pictures Betsy Ross showing the flag to the Flag Committee – General George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross.