Historian Marc Leepson's 2005 book reiterated that no credible documentary evidence supports the claim Betsy Ross made the first American flag.
In 2005, historian Marc Leepson published Flag: An American Biography, a comprehensive scholarly history of the American flag that devoted significant attention to critically examining the Betsy Ross legend. Leepson's research, later summarized in interviews such as one published in Colonial Williamsburg's journal, concluded definitively that every serious historical investigation into the Betsy Ross story has failed to uncover any contemporaneous documentation supporting the claim that she designed or sewed the first official U.S. flag in 1776.
Leepson's work built upon decades of prior historical skepticism, dating back to the 1952 stamp controversy, and represented one of the most thorough and widely cited modern treatments of the subject. He emphasized that while Betsy Ross was certainly a real, documented flag maker who produced flags for the Pennsylvania Navy in 1777, the specific "first flag" narrative popularized by her grandson in 1870 lacks archival support and likely originated as family legend embellished over time.
This scholarly reassessment is significant for establishing a clear historiographical consensus distinguishing verifiable fact from patriotic myth. It has informed museum interpretation, educational curricula, and popular history writing in the 21st century, encouraging a more nuanced appreciation of Ross's documented professional achievements as a businesswoman and craftsperson during the Revolutionary War, apart from the unsubstantiated "first flag" legend.