Nah. Getting 51 white stars into a rectangular blue field is easy. Just divide 51 by 3 to get 17, then split 17 into 9 + 8. Three rows of 9 stars and three rows of 8 stars gives you 51 stars. See video below.
But if Puerto Rico gets statehood, too, how do you disperse 52 stars in the field of blue? That’s easy, too: Four rows of 7 stars plus four rows of 6 stars gives you 52 stars. See image here.
The characters who dreamed up the 52-star flag had in mind splitting California into 3 states, not admitting 2 new states. But what if D.C. and P.R. get statehood and California is split in two? No problem, a 53-star flag looks like this: (8 x 4) + (7 x 3) = 53. What about admitting D.C. and P.R. and splitting California into three states? Still no problem, a 54-star flag looks like this. Well, maybe not; there must be some other way to do that.
But here’s an idea. What don’t we be one nation, America, and pledge together to defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic? Didn’t someone write such a pledge, once up a time? This is a big country, with room for all of us, and the fact we disagree doesn’t mean we have to tear up our flag.
If a new state is admitted then Congress will have to approve the design of a new flag. Maybe rainbow stars. Stars in a circle. Stars in a runway pattern. A random pattern. Stars in three Xs like a perfect 10th frame in bowling.
Federal statute (4 U.S.C. §§ 1-2) only describes the basic design and specifies that a star will be added when a new state is admitted; it doesn’t go into design details. That’s found in Executive Order 10834 (1959), so the President, not Congress, would approve a new star pattern.