the national flag of the U.S., consisting of 13 horizontal stripes that are alternately red and white, representing the original states, and of a blue field containing 50 white stars, representing the present states.
(italics)the national anthem of the United States of America, based on a poem written by Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, and set by him to the melody of the English song To Anacreon in Heaven: officially adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1931.
the Stars and Stripes(functioning as singular)the national flag of the United States of America, consisting of 50 white stars representing the present states on a blue field and seven red and six white horizontal stripes representing the original statesAlso known as: the Star-Spangled Banner
"American flag," attested from 1782. Stars and Bars as a name for the Confederate flag is attested from 1863. Star-spangled is attested from 1590s; Star-Spangled Banner "United States flag" is 1814, from Francis Scott Key's poem (printed in the "Baltimore Patriot" Sept. 20).
The national flag of the United States. Its fifty stars represent the fifty states; its thirteen stripes represent the thirteen colonies that became the original states.
