Robert G. "Bob" Heft (January 19, 1941
ā December 12, 2009) was the designer of the current United States 50-star flag.
He has also designed a 51-star flag that would be used if a new state joins the
United States. He was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Heft
designed the current United States flag as a school project in Lancaster, Ohio when he was 17 years old. He got a B- for
his project by his teacher, Stanley Pratt. After talking about the project, he
made an agreement with his teacher that if the flag was made as the official
flag by the United States Congress, he
would get a better grade for the project. Heft's design was chosen out of more
than 1,500 designs that were given to United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and
his teacher changed his grade to an A. After graduating from college, he became
a high school teacher and later a college professor. He was also mayor of Napoleon, Ohio for 28 years. Heft died on December
12, 2009 from a heart attack while living in Saginaw. This happened after many years of fighting
with diabetes. He was 68 years old.