Instead of 13 stripes and 50 stars for colonies and states, this flag features 7 stripes and 27 stars for Articles of the Constitution and ensuing Amendments to it. I feel like mere territorial growth doesn’t tell the story of America’s development as a society and republic as well as tracking the changes to its constitution. Especially the voting rights amendments.
Colors borrow from the cardinal direction colors used by Indigenous American nations, (black and blue are interchangeable depending on which nation your speaking to). This was done to bake some land recognition into the flag.
Lastly the torch of Lady Liberty is included both to visually distinct the flag from the original stars and stripes, but also to signify America’s status as a nation of immigrants. 99% of all Americans today either are an immigrant themselves or have an ancestor within living memory who was one, and Lady Liberty became a sort of patron saint of such folks by being the first sight a lot of people saw coming to America for the first time, not to mention how she’s technically an immigrant herself having been gifted from france.
The 3% is a reason to be skeptical, but doesn’t necessarily refute the 99% claim. A person can be a Native American, part of their community, and have a grandparent who was an immigrant. 2/3 of them at minimum would need to have a similar situation at minimum, but it’s less than the percent who live outside reservations (78%) so it doesn’t seem totally far-fetched. It seems high though to be sure