Collection: About Us

In honor of Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross, we have created a series of superior quality American Flags made in USA by Valley Forge Flag®, crafted in Pennsylvania and South Carolina for over 100 years.

Elizabeth was born on January 1, 1752. She was the daughter of generations of craftsmen and she herself apprenticed as an upholsterer. She became a very skilled seamstress and learned to sew mattresses, chair covers, curtains and bed covers. She later worked on military uniforms, tents and flags for the Continental Army.

In the summer of 1776 Betsy is said to have received a visit from General George Washington. Washington and two other members of the Continental Congress brought a rough design idea for a flag for the new nation that included thirteen red and white stripes and thirteen six-pointed stars. Elizabeth helped with the design and recommended the stars be changed to five-pointed stars because they were easier to make.

Allegedly she showed them how to make the new stars by folding a piece of paper into triangles and with one snip of her scissors she made a perfect star. The thirteen stars were placed in a circle so that no one colony be viewed above another. The thirteen red and white stripes represent the thirteen original colonies. The men agreed on the design and Betsy at age 24 constructed and sewed the first American flag.