Bob Heft and the U.S. flag

The United States flag has undergone 27 different designs since 1777, and its latest design was created by a then-teenager from Lancaster, Ohio. A 50-star flag was ordered by President Dwight Eisenhower when Hawaii and Alaska joined the union.

During the 1950s, more than 3,000 Americans mailed designs to the White House. The winner was Bob Heft, who took the challenge as a school project. Eisenhower liked Heft’s design: a flag with five rows of six stars staggered with four rows of five stars. It was raised the first time on the Fourth of July in 1960.

– Edward Stevens, Stevens Strategic Communications