The American flag has been around for over two hundred years. The first flag to be used by Washington was on New year's Day, 1776 when he ordered the Grand Union flag to be hoisted above his place on Prospect Hill during the siege over the British Army in Boston.It had thirteen alternating red and white stripes with the British Union Jack in the upper left hand corner.This was the start of many US flags to be hoisted as the American Flag. Soon after that in May, Betsy Ross claimed to have sewn the first US flag.oday our flag has thirteen stripes representing the original thirteen colonies with seven red stripes and six white. It has 50 stars representing all of our states on the blue background in the upper left hand corner. The American Flag can be seen in just about every person's home or belongings in this country.