#PatrioticPeachy #PeachyDeegan @ManhattanPeachy #asks @Grok : How did the USA get red white and blue as the national colors?
The United States adopted red, white, and blue as its national colors primarily through the design of its official flag, adopted by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. These colors were not chosen for entirely new symbolic reasons at the time of adoption but were carried over from British colonial heritage and practical considerations.
The 1777 Flag Resolution
The Second Continental Congress passed this resolution (the only official document defining the flag at the time):
“Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”No specific meanings were assigned to the colors in this resolution. The design specified 13 alternating red and white stripes (for the original 13 colonies) and a blue canton (upper left corner) with 13 white stars.
Where the Colors Came From:
British Influence and Predecessor Flags
The red, white, and blue palette was inherited from Britain. The American colonies had long used British flags and ensigns, and red/white/blue were prominent in British heraldry (from the flags of England, Scotland, and Ireland that combined into the Union Jack).
The immediate predecessor to the official U.S. flag was the Grand Union Flag (also called the Continental Colours or Continental Union Flag), used from late 1775 to 1777. It featured 13 alternating red and white stripes with the British Union Jack in the canton. George Washington raised it on January 1, 1776, during the Siege of Boston. This flag symbolized the colonies’ unity while still acknowledging their British ties before full independence.
Grand Union Flag (Continental Colours) — the flag used by American forces early in the Revolutionary War, directly bridging British and American designs.When the new nation needed a flag without the British Union Jack after independence, Congress kept the familiar red and white stripes and added a blue field with stars. The colors were readily available as dyes/pigments at the time, and they maintained visual continuity with colonial flags.
For comparison, here is the historical composition of the British Union Jack (which influenced the canton of the earlier American flag):
The Official Symbolism (Added in 1782)While the 1777 resolution gave no meanings, Charles Thomson (Secretary of the Continental Congress) provided the now-standard interpretation in 1782 when describing the design of the Great Seal of the United States. He explicitly tied the colors to the flag:
“The colours of the pales [stripes] are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.”
These meanings have been widely accepted ever since and are commonly cited today (sometimes with slight wording variations, such as “valor and bravery” for red).
A Popular but Apocryphal Quote
You may have seen this quote attributed to George Washington:
“We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”
It is not historically verified. It does not appear in Washington’s writings or contemporary records and first surfaced in print decades after his death (around 1902–1905). While it nicely captures the spirit of the design, historians consider it apocryphal.
How It Became America’s National Colors
The flag design evolved (stars added for new states, arrangement standardized later), but the red/white/blue color scheme remained constant.
Over time, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, these colors became deeply associated with American identity, patriotism, and national symbols beyond just the flag (e.g., in seals, uniforms, and celebrations).
Official U.S. government sources today describe the colors with Thomson’s meanings.
In short, the U.S. got red, white, and blue as its national colors because they were the familiar, practical colors from its British colonial past—refined into a new flag design in 1777 that symbolized independence while retaining visual and cultural continuity. The deeper symbolic meanings were formalized a few years later and have endured ever since. Flag Day is still celebrated on June 14 in honor of that 1777 resolution.
