the last star was added to the united states flag in 1947.
when was the last star added to the united states flag?
1947
alaska was admitted as the 49th state on january 3, 1959, which caused the 49th star to be added to the united states flag on the following july 4. on may 26, president eisenhower issued , which added a 49th star to the outer ring on the presidential coat of arms (and therefore the seal and flag as well), also effective on july 4. the order was otherwise identical to truman's order, which it replaced. hawaii was admitted as the 50th state on august 21, 1959, and eisenhower duly issued on february 5, 1960 (effective july 4, 1960) to add the 50th star to the coat of arms. once again, it was identical to the previous orders other than the number of stars. this remains the official definition today.
seal of the president of the united states
on june 28, 2015, in the aftermath of the events of june 17, 2015, when a mass shooting took place at emanuel african methodist episcopal church in downtown charleston, south carolina, the five small flags that were arranged in a semi-circle around the large flagpole flying the 50-star united states flag at fort sumter were lowered so that the south carolina flag could be flown at half staff. those flown include (1) a 33-star united states flag, (2) a confederate first national flag (), (3) a south carolina state flag, (4) a confederate second national flag (stainless banner), and (5) a 35-star united states flag. this display was added to fort sumter national monument in the 1970s. in august 2015, the flagpoles were removed to create a new exhibit. the four historic national flags now fly on the lower parade ground.
fort sumter