You've seen it a thousand times. It's on porches, postage stamps, and probably a few t-shirts in your drawer. But when you stop to think about what colors are in the American flag, most people just say "red, white, and blue" and leave it at that. It feels like a simple answer. It isn't.
The colors aren't just random shades picked out of a hat by a seamstress in Philadelphia. There is a specific, government-mandated DNA to these hues. If you bought a flag today that used a bright "fire engine" red or a "baby" blue, it wouldn't just look off—it would technically be wrong.
The Specific Shades You’ve Probably Never Named
Most people assume the blue is just... blue. It's actually a very deep, dark shade known officially as "Old Glory Blue." It’s almost navy, but with a bit more grit. The red isn't a vibrant scarlet either; it’s "Old Glory Red." These aren't just poetic names. They are documented in the Standard Color Reference of America.
If you’re a designer or a total nerd for specifics, you’re looking at Cable numbers. For the red, it's 70180. The white is 70001. The blue is 70075. In the digital world, we usually translate these to hex codes like #B22234 for the red and #3C3B6E for that moody blue.
Why does this matter? Because consistency creates identity. When the U.S. government buys flags, they don't just ask for "red." They demand these exact specifications to ensure that a flag flying over an embassy in Tokyo looks identical to one at a post office in Des Moines.
Does the Meaning Actually Come from 1776?
Here is the weird part that most history books gloss over. When the Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777, they were surprisingly brief. They talked about the stars and the stripes, but they didn't explain the colors at all. They just said they’d be red, white, and blue. That was it. No deep philosophical manifesto. No symbolic poetry.
It wasn't until 1782—five years later—that we got an "official" explanation.
Charles Thomson, who was the Secretary of the Continental Congress, had to explain the colors for the Great Seal of the United States. Since the flag used the same palette, his descriptions became the gold standard. He said white stands for purity and innocence. Red represents hardiness and valor. Blue? That’s for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
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Honestly, it feels a bit like they worked backward. They had the colors, and then they had to figure out a cool way to justify them to the world. But hey, it stuck.
The Myth of Betsy Ross and the Layout
We can’t talk about what colors are in the American flag without mentioning how they are arranged. You have 13 stripes. Seven are red, six are white. They alternate, starting and ending with red.
Why red on the outside? Visibility.
If you put white stripes on the top and bottom edges, the flag would blend into the sky or look "lost" from a distance. Red provides a sharp, high-contrast frame. It’s practical engineering disguised as aesthetics.
And then there's the blue "canto"—that rectangle in the corner. It holds the 50 stars. Back in the day, the number of stars changed constantly. Every time a state joined the union, the flag got a makeover. The current 50-star version is actually the longest-running design in American history, unchanged since 1960 after Hawaii popped in.
There’s a famous story about Bob Heft, a 17-year-old kid from Ohio. For a class project, he stayed up at his mom's sewing machine and rearranged the stars into a 50-star pattern before Hawaii or Alaska were even states. His teacher gave him a B-. Later, after Eisenhower actually chose his design for the national flag, the teacher (rightfully) changed the grade to an A.
Why Red, White, and Blue? (The British Connection)
It’s the elephant in the room.
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If we were fighting a war to get away from the British, why did we use their exact same colors? The Union Jack is red, white, and blue. Most of the early colonists were British. They weren't necessarily trying to invent a brand-new visual language; they were trying to use the "colors of liberty" as they understood them.
The flag evolved from the Grand Union Flag, which actually kept the British Union Jack in the corner. Eventually, we swapped the Jack for the stars, but the color palette stayed. It was familiar. It was available. It was durable.
The Technical Reality of Fabric and Dyes
Back in the 18th century, you couldn't just go to a store and buy "Pantone 193 C." Dyes were made from plants and minerals.
- Red often came from the cochineal insect or madder root.
- Blue came from the indigo plant.
- White was usually just bleached linen or wool.
Indigo was a massive cash crop in the South, which made blue dye relatively accessible. However, indigo is also famous for being stubborn. It fades, but it fades into a distinct, recognizable blue. This might be why the "Old Glory Blue" we use today is so dark—it’s a nod to the heavy saturation needed to make the color last through wind, rain, and sun.
How to Spot a "Fake" or Low-Quality Flag
If you’re looking at a flag and the blue looks a bit like a clear summer sky, or the red looks like a pinkish-orange tomato, it’s not following the U.S. Office of the Federal Register specifications.
True American flags are designed to be high-contrast. The blue is meant to be a "heavy" color to balance the movement of the stripes. When the wind catches it, those specific shades are designed to remain legible even when the flag is rippling violently.
Modern Use and the "Thin Blue Line" Controversy
Lately, you’ve probably seen variations of the flag that aren’t red, white, and blue. The most common is the monochrome black and white version with a single blue stripe.
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Strictly speaking, according to the U.S. Flag Code, the flag should not be altered. It’s a point of massive debate. Many see these variations as a way to honor police or first responders. Others argue that changing the colors—the very thing that defines the flag—violates the integrity of the symbol.
From a purely technical standpoint, once you remove the red and the white, it ceases to be "Old Glory." It becomes a derivative work. The official colors are what give the flag its legal and historical standing.
Taking Care of the Colors
If you own a flag, you know the sun is the enemy. UV rays eat the red first.
Because the red dye (even the modern synthetic stuff) reacts differently to light than the blue, an old flag will often look "tired" in the stripes while the blue canton still looks relatively dark. If your flag has faded to the point where the red looks like a light salmon or the white is a dingy gray, the Flag Code suggests it’s time to retire it.
The colors are supposed to represent a living country. When the colors die, the flag is usually disposed of in a dignified way—traditionally by burning in a private ceremony.
Actionable Steps for Flag Owners
If you want to ensure your flag stays true to the colors intended by the founders (and Charles Thomson), here is what you do:
- Check the Material: Nylon flags hold color the longest and have a nice "shimmer," but polyester is tougher for high-wind areas. If you want the most "authentic" look, go for a cotton blend, but be prepared for it to fade much faster.
- Look for "Sewn" Stripes: High-quality flags don't just print the colors onto a white sheet. They sew individual strips of red and white fabric together. This gives the colors depth and prevents "bleed" between the sections.
- Night Lighting: If you want those colors to pop 24/7, you have to light it. The Flag Code says a flag should only be flown at night if it’s "properly illuminated." A simple solar-powered LED spotlight at the base of the pole does the trick.
- Wash it? Yes: You can actually wash a flag. Use cold water and a mild detergent. This removes the acidic buildup from pollution and rain that can dull the "purity" of the white stripes and the "valor" of the red.
- Verify the Source: If you’re buying a flag for an official purpose, look for the FMAA (Flag Manufacturers Association of America) certification. This guarantees it was made in the U.S. and uses the correct "Old Glory" color specifications.
Understanding what colors are in the American flag is really about understanding the balance between history and practicality. It's a mix of 18th-century plant dyes, 20th-century school projects, and a very specific set of digital hex codes that keep the whole thing looking uniform from sea to shining sea.