Before 1912, there was no single, official format for arranging the flag's stars. This led to the use of a number of geometric patterns throughout the 19th century, including the Great Star, in which a large star is made out of smaller stars. It was designed by Captain Samuel Reid, probably soon after the War of 1812.
Reid was concerned with the flag's ability to function as a Naval signal. In fact, the flag had originally been created for that use, but because there was no official star design, the appearance of the flag varied greatly, making it less than ideally suited to the task. Reid believed that adoption of the Great Star as the official design would make the flag easier to recognize at sea. He foresaw that this would increasingly become an issue as more states joined the Union and more stars were added to the flag. President James Monroe rejected adoption of the Great Star pattern on the grounds that it would be too costly to manufacture, but Reid's other recommendation, that the number of stripes permanently return to 13 from 15, was accepted.
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