The 13 stripes on the American flag stand for the 13 original states of the Union. But all 13 states did not become part of the United States at the same time. The first state to accept the Constitution and thereby become a state was Delaware.
Delaware accepted the Constitution on December, 1787, five days before Pennsylvania accepted it. The last of the 13 states to enter the Union was Rhode Island, which didn’t accept the Constitution until 1790.
Delaware was first settled by Sweden, then by Holland, and then by England in 1664. It was named after the English governor of Virginia, Lord De La Warr, and for 22 years it was part of Pennsylvania.
Though Delaware is the second smallest state in the Union, after Rhode Island, it can rightfully claim that it is the “First State.”
