Flag of the United States John Trumbull. Despite the 1777 resolution, the early years of American independence featured many different flags. Most were individually crafted rather than mass-produced. While there are many examples of 13-star arrangements, some of those flags included blue stripes as well as red and white. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, in a letter dated October 3, 1778, to Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, described the American flag as consisting of "13 stripes, alternately red, white, and blue, a small square in the upper angle, next the flag staff, is a blue field, with 13 white stars, denoting a new Constellation."
Flag of the East India Company English East India Company adopted a flag of thirteen red and white stripes with the flag of England in canton. It was reported that the number of stripes was chosen because many of the East India Company's shareholders were Freemasons, and the number thirteen is considered powerful in freemasonry. However, different reports gave varying initial numbers of stripes. The flag caused problems for the East India Company at first when trading in the Far East, because of its use of the St George's Cross. In Japan in 1616, the Company's ships were turned away because the cross on the flag