Image:Flag of the United States specification.svg

A similar diagram of the flag of the United States was given in Executive Order 10834, by Dwight D. Eisenhower, on August 21, 1959. It appears in the United States Code, title 4, chapter 1 [1]. The code specifies the lengths as

Hoist (width) of flag: A = 1.0
Fly (length) of flag: B = 1.9
Hoist (width) of Union: C = 0.5385 (7/13)
Fly (length) of Union: D = 0.76
E = F = 0.054
G = H = 0.063
Diameter of star: K = 0.0616
Width of stripe: L = 0.0769 (1/13)

Due to rounding errors, the above numbers are inconsistent. Presumably, the dimensions were originally intended to yield a ratio of L : B : D : K = 1 : 25 : 10 : 4/5, while A,C,E,F,G,H result from the flag's layout.

Why? That would imply B = 25/13 = 1.923..., D = 10/13 = 0.7692..., and K = 0.061538.... Obviously E, F, G, and H are rounded (since otherwise they don't fill up the union as specified), but it's not really clear that B, D, and K were intended to be other than as specified. In particular, if D had been rounded from 10/13, it would have been 0.77. User:dbenbenn 18:16, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Discussion continued on the talk page --Pumbaa 15:39, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. See Copyright.

Note: This only applies to works of the Federal Government and not to the work of any individual U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, county, municipality, or any other subdivision.

File history

File links