On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the first flag of the United States, resolving that it have thirteen stripes alternating red and white and a union of thirteen white stars in a blue field representing a new constellation. Francis Hopkinson, a member of Congress, designed the first Stars and Stripes with the thirteen stars arranged in the unmistakable outline of the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, as used together on the British flag.