The flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen horizontal red stripes alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton with fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine horizontal rows. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S. Nicknames for the flag include The Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and The Star-Spangled Banner.