Who designed the United States' current 50 star flag?

The United States’ current 50 star flag was designed as a school project by 17 year-old Robert G. Heft. Heft received a B- for his efforts, but his teacher said he would reconsider the grade if Congress accepted Heft’s ostensibly mediocre design. In 1959, that’s precisely what happened, and Heft’s design was selected to be the latest iteration of the American flag. His teacher promptly changed the grade to an A.

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14 Comments

Steve Naso

Even though I missed this one, it is a great story! The power of perseverance is amazing. I am glad his teacher changed the grade. Remember that Walt Disney's former employer told him that Walt would never succeed because he had no imagination.

John W Shreve

He should have won a trip to Hawaii.

steve

"Ostensibly mediocre design" for the finest flag in the world??? You've gotta be kidding!!!

finsfone

This story and the one shown below about Walt Disney prove that you should never let one person ruin your dreams. Keep knocking on that door or try to kick it in! You just might have the next great invention, idea, art piece, or whatever!

Elsy O. Stromberg

Boyd Tracy, It's a pretty big reorganization.

Boyd Tracy

Hard for me to accept that the 50 star flag was anything more than the latest iteration of the original design by Betsey Ross. It really has no added elements and is merely a reorganization of the stars to accommodate 2 more.

Gold Toy Box

I knew the story but didn't recall the name.

Brian G

Maridel Millanes, and not that far a variant of the 45- or 47-star flag...

ninakamwene

Missed it. Good job Robert Heft!

Marcella Kosse

Nice. Wonder why we didn’t learn that in school. I turned 9 that year, so I should have learned it somewhere along the way as History was one of my majors.

Maridel Millanes

What an amazing accomplishment for a 17-yr-old, whose name is forever imprinted in USA history. This design is classic, simple, impressive. Godspeed! 🇺🇸