How to draw the flag of the United States

The flag of the United States has thirteen horizontal stripes alternating red and white, with a navy blue canton in the upper hoist carrying fifty small white stars. Below is how to construct it step by step, with the measurements written as fractions so they work at any size — on paper, on a whiteboard or in an art program. If you would rather test yourself first, you can draw it from memory and get scored.

Ad space

Step by step

  1. Start with a rectangle in the proportions 19:10. If you are working on paper, 19 cm wide by 10 cm tall is a convenient size — every measurement below is given as a fraction, so any size works as long as the shape is right.
  2. Divide the height into thirteen equal horizontal bands, each a thirteenth of the height. Working from the top down, colour them alternating red and white, starting with red (red #b31942 and white #ffffff).
  3. In the upper hoist corner (top left), draw a navy blue canton covering 40% of the width and 54% of the height.
  4. Fill the canton with fifty white stars in nine rows: rows of six and rows of five alternating. Space the rows evenly — the alternation is what makes it read as the American flag.

The colours

These are the shades used in the reference drawing. Official specifications are usually given in Pantone; the hex values below are the closest common screen equivalents.

The mistakes people make

Test yourself

Reading how a flag is built and being able to reproduce it from memory are different skills, and the gap between them is bigger than most people expect. Draw the flag of the United States from memory and the game will score how close you got, or try today's flag if you want to be surprised.

Other flags to draw