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It's not just an executive order; this order is directly referenced by 4 U.S.C. §5. The code isn't legally binding because that'd violate the First Amendment, but the OP doesn't conform at all.
I don't know where the urban myth of "it's code-compliant as long as there are 50 white stars" came from or how it perpetuates when it's so easily disproven.
There's 102 stars.
Oh, yeah, you're completely right. I didn't bother counting even at a glance because it already fails on the shape and the myth I've always seen is that there need only be exactly 50 stars, so I assumed that's what the OP was going for.
My bad. Foreigner that acted on a reddit comment without checking first, feel free to point and laugh
The myth probably comes from back when the star placement wasn't set in stone. There was the common one of the stars in a circle, but there were many others. Some less official. Especially when it was first being decided, and the description was just writing, there were some wild interpretations.
For sure there was a long period historically when there was no official arrangement. However, by 1912 – 114 years ago – when there were 48 stars, there was a singular official placement, and there's been one ever since. Making the assumption that you start forming conscious memories around 3, there's a single person alive today who's verifiably old enough to have any conscious memory of a time when the US flag's stars lacked a set order.
I can kind of get having what I call a "latent misconception" where you never find out otherwise because it never meaningfully comes up as more than a fleeting thought. (Maybe "Lucky 10,000 Syndrome" is catchier and less dry if more generalized.) But the years-long spate of jokes about it and people actually believing and repeating it is where I get frustrated by how people just say shit and never even try to consider whether it's true (especially when it's ridiculous on its face).
I get you're offering an explanation rather than a justification. This isn't directed at you.
Fun fact, prior to the stars being adopted, the Grand Union flag was literally just the British East India Company flag. Like, they didn't even have one made, they took one off a boat and said "this is ours now"
It's actually not...
There was an old executive order requiring a federal specification on the size and spacing of the stars.
But fuck it, no one follows flag code anyways
Well consider me corrected. I made the assumption based off of reddit comments.. I deserve public lambasting for still scrolling and acting instead of researching first.
But hey if any of the Americans that believe it's true would print a similar flag I would still find it worth the shame
I counted 102 stars
We don't need to put that man's name on anything more than it's already on.
