What do the colors red, white, and blue symbolize in the American flag? Answer: The colors of the American flag symbolize absolutely nothing. The colors red, white, and blue did not have specific meanings when the original Stars and Stripes flag was adopted in 1777. These colors are the same colors in the British and French flags, however, so perhaps they were chosen to assert the legitimacy of the new government. The thirteen stars on the first American flag represented the original thirteen colonies: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Today these colonies are represented in the thirteen alternating bands of red and white in the flag. Email Question    Print Question

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