Betsy Ross (January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been widely credited with making the first American flag.

Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscom to parents Samuel and Rebecca in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1752, the eighth of 17 children. She "grew up in a household where the plain dress and strict discipline of the Society of Friends dominated her life." She learned to sew from her great-aunt Sarah Griscom.

After she finished her schooling at a Quaker public school, her father apprenticed her to an upholsterer named William Webster. At this job, she fell in love with fellow apprentice John Ross, son of an assistant rector Aeneas Ross (Sarah Leach) at (Episcopal) Christ Church. The couple eloped in 1773 when she was 21 at Hugg's Tavern in Gloucester, New Jersey. The marriage caused a split from her family and meant her expulsion from the Quaker congregation. The young couple soon started their own upholstery business and joined Christ Church. Betsy and John had two children.