The legend of how the first “stars and stripes” flag was born includes a visit from then General George Washington to the widow Betsy Ross. The Continental Congress has laid out the basic flag, but Betsy finalized the design with thirteen five-pointed stars in a circle that symbolized the thirteen rebel colonies as did the thirteen alternating red and white stripes. In later years the flag retained the red and white stripes but the addition of more states to the union resulted in the rows of stars we have today.