The distinction of having made the first American Flag is often given to Ms. Betsy Ross, a Quakeress, of Philadelphia. According to popular myth, in June, 1776 a short time before the Declaration of Independence was signed; George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris called on Ms. Ross. They produced a sketch of an American Flag that they wanted her to make for them. Betsy replied, "I don't know whether I can, but I'll try." After the completion of the flag, the flag was submitted to Congress, which unanimously adopted it as the American Flag.

It is almost without exception; however, historians assail the accuracy of the Betsy Ross Flag Story. To quote the late Admiral George Preble, United States Navy, universally acknowledged as America's greatest Flag Historian: "It will probably never be known who designed our union of stars, the records of Congress being silent on the subject and there being no mention or suggestion of it in any of the voluminous correspondence or diaries of the time, public or private, which have ever been published.."

Like the George Washington cherry-tree legend, the Betsy Ross Flag story is intriguing.