After, a big dispute between American leaders concerning the flag design, Ben Franklin gave an idea. “While the field of our flag must be new in the details of its design, it need not to be entirely new in its elements.” (9) Franklin was referring to the East India Company Flag. The East India Company Flag consisted of alternating red and white stripes with a red cross on a white field—Cross of St. George. George Washington and many others loved the idea and agreed with Franklin about the design. Later, the cross was changed to thirteen white stars arranged in a circle. Each star represented the thirteen original colonies