United States Flag Patch

There are 50 stars and 13 stripes on this patch, seven red and six white, and the 50-star flag has been the flag of the United States since July 4, 1960. President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10834 on August 21, 1959, the day Hawaii became a state, and the order made the new flag official the following Independence Day. By law a star is added for each new state, while the stripes stay at thirteen for the original colonies. The 50-star flag has now flown longer than any earlier flag. This patch is that flag in thread, with a gold border around it.

The first Flag Resolution, passed by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, called for thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and thirteen stars, white in a blue field. The 48-star flag went to France with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and stayed through World War II and Korea. The 50-star flag went to Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. Federal law makes room for the patch directly: the Flag Code says no part of the flag should be used as a costume or athletic uniform, but a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen and members of patriotic organizations. On Army uniforms the flag on the right shoulder is reversed, union forward, so it appears to be advancing; this patch is the standard orientation, union at the upper left.

The patch is a 3.5 by 2 inch rectangle with a gold merrowed border rolled around all four sides. The union fills the upper left corner in bright blue, with 50 white stars in staggered rows of six and five. The stripes run the full width in red and white satin stitch, red at the top and the bottom. The gold edge sets it apart from plain-bordered and subdued flag patches. It frames the flag the way gold fringe frames a flag carried indoors.

This is the one patch every service shares. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have all worn it, and it goes on firefighters' and police uniforms and on the vests of veterans' groups. The Flag Code asks that the flag never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, and plenty of veterans handle a flag patch with the same care. For many families the flag that matters most is the folded one in a case on the mantel. This patch carries the same stars and stripes.

Iron it onto a jacket or work shirt, sew it to a vest or backpack, or set it in a shadow box beside a folded flag and a set of ribbons. It is a good small gift for a new enlistee, a scout, or anyone who flies a flag on the porch. The backing is iron-on, and it can be sewn on for heavy wear. Fifty stars, thirteen stripes and a gold edge.