Why does the flag have 13 stripes?

What does this answer mean?

The flag has 13 stripes because there were 13 original colonies. USCIS also accepts "because the stripes represent the original colonies."

Federal law describes the flag as having thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, with a blue field of white stars in the corner. The stripes stay the same no matter how many states join, so they always honor the 13 colonies that declared independence in 1776 and became the first states.

The 13 original states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Another question asks you to name five of them.

The stars work differently: there's one for each state, and a new star is added when a state joins. That's the next question on the test.

An easy way to keep them apart: stripes look back to the 13 colonies, and stars count today's 50 states.

This is one of the 20 questions on the 65/20 list. At the interview, say "because there were 13 original colonies."