What word refers to the national symbol?

The word that refers to the national symbol, on the USCIS reading vocabulary list, is Flag. The flag of the United States, often called the Stars and Stripes, the Star-Spangled Banner, or Old Glory, is the official national flag and consists of thirteen alternating red and white horizontal stripes representing the thirteen original colonies and a blue field, called the union or the canton, in the upper left corner bearing 50 white five-pointed stars representing the 50 states.

The current 50-star design has been in use since July 4, 1960, after Hawaii's admission to the union, making it the longest-serving version of the flag. The Continental Congress adopted the first U.S. flag on June 14, 1777, with the resolution 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," and Flag Day is celebrated each year on June 14 to commemorate that adoption.

Federal law in 4 U.S.C. chapter 1 (the Flag Code) sets out rules of display and respect, including raising the flag briskly, lowering it ceremoniously, never letting it touch the ground, displaying it from sunrise to sunset (or with proper lighting at night), and flying it at half-staff on certain memorial days. The Pledge of Allegiance, which begins "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America," is recited toward the flag.

The colors are traditionally said to symbolize valor (red), purity and innocence (white), and vigilance, perseverance, and justice (blue). On the reading test Flag may appear in a sentence such as "What are the colors of the flag?" or "The flag has fifty stars."