What do the colors of the flag symbolize?

The colors of the U.S. flag symbolize three civic virtues drawn from heraldic tradition: red represents valor and hardiness, white represents purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The flag carries seven horizontal red stripes alternating with six white stripes and a blue rectangular canton in the upper hoist corner with 50 white five-pointed stars. The symbolic meanings come from Charles Thomson's June 20, 1782 report to the Continental Congress explaining the colors of the Great Seal of the United States, which uses the same three colors.

Thomson explained the colors as purity and innocence in white, hardiness and valor in red, and vigilance, perseverance, and justice in blue (the heraldic color of the chief). The Continental Congress approved the Great Seal that day and Thomson's color descriptions, although intended for the Seal, became the accepted symbolic vocabulary for the flag through long tradition, official usage, and modern USCIS preparation materials.

Hardiness and valor referred in eighteenth-century usage to the toughness, endurance, and courage of those willing to face hardship and battle; the Founders associated those qualities with the soldiers and militia who had fought for independence. Purity and innocence referred to moral integrity, freedom from corruption, and uprightness of conduct, ideals expressed in the Constitution's Preamble and in Washington's Farewell Address of 1796. Vigilance, perseverance, and justice referred to watchful attention to public duty, steadfast determination through difficulty, and the impartial administration of law, all central themes of the Constitution's federal structure and the Bill of Rights.

The flag's exact federal shades are Old Glory Red (Pantone 193 C, FED-STD-595 number 31136), Old Glory White (FED-STD-595 number 27875), and Old Glory Blue (Pantone 282 C, FED-STD-595 number 35044), specified by Executive Order 10834 of August 21, 1959 and by the U.S. Department of Defense color standards. The same color symbolism appears on the Great Seal, the Presidential Seal, on military service flags, on the seals of the executive departments, on the seals of all 50 states, on military unit colors, and on the bunting used at official ceremonies.

The Flag Code, codified at 4 U.S.C. sections 1 through 10, addresses display and respect for the flag but does not impose criminal penalties; the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990) that flag desecration is constitutionally protected speech.