American Flag Hairstyle | 4th of July

I always love this time of year and every single thing associated with July 4th. I realized that in all the hairstyles I’d seen out there and in everything I’ve done too, I didn’t remember seeing an actual flag, so we jumped right in and this is what we came up with. It is definitely one you can alter to your abilities or liking – but this is the basic idea of what we did.

Part the hair smack down the middle from front to back.

On the right side make a small pony parting it from the center part down to the ear.

Here is where you can do things according to your preference. I did a 4 strand braid with ribbon in it. I like how the ribbon runs straight down the middle & that’s exactly the look I wanted for this flag. You can see my how it looks in a basic ponytail here – or watch the how to video HERE. But like I said – you can do whatever kind of twist or braid at this point – just add your red ribbon. You will need red ribbon twice as long as the hair in the ponytail – plus a little bit if you want it to flair out at the end for some “spunkiness!” Braid all the way down and tie off at the end with a rubber band.

Part off another section and secure with a rubber band. Repeat the braiding process, adding ribbon, etc.

Repeat with the remaining hair in the back. You can do this with as many sections as you want – I just wanted to have three. Remember, the ribbon for each ponytail needs to be 2 times the length of the pony plus a little bit!

On the left side, repeat the same process – but use white ribbon. (If I could redo this, I wouldn’t have used the blue rubber bands – I would have stuck with the red for everything – but Bug wanted blue on that side!)

Once you have 3 red braids on the right and 3 white ones on the left start the process of crossing them back & forth and securing them. Depending on the length of hair you are working with this will vary also. Some of the braids I anchored using the same technique I do from THIS old hairstyle (tucking through the base of opposite ponytails), but other spots I just bobby pinned the heck out of things to hold them in place!

Because I was in a bit of a hurry, things didn’t match up quite like I’d envisioned so I just laid things how I wanted, and if I was able to tuck things through other rubber bands I did, if not I bobby pinned it in place to lay how I wanted for the red & white striped affect. I wanted it to be a fun & playful style too so I kept the ends poking out with the ribbons spraying out as well. You could certainly tuck all that in if you don’t want that. (And yes, my white ribbon is a titch wider than my red!) Trim you ribbons that spray out if you feel any of them are too long.

** If you are working on longer hair, you could totally double the hair back & make the stripes double thick, or if they aren’t long enough to go back a full 2nd time across the head just pin them up and hide things. Remember – bobby pins are our friends! ***

Then I added our “blue” section of the flag that I’d bought ages ago from a dollar store & our flag was complete! You could put any number of things here to substitute it. Bug was quick to point out we didn’t have any stars. 🙂 Oh well – I can’t do everything right! LOL I guess I could have blinged it out with our i-rock tool from Gimme Clips or something.

Like I said – the idea is pretty basic – the 3 pony tails down each side – just add your ribbon in however you wish and then pull them across. If you haven’t mastered the 4 strand braid yet, then obviously this could be tricky – but there are so many fun ways to tie ribbon in this can work just about any way possible! Then anchor those cute things across for the stripes & you’re good to go!

Add your flag shirt, and a semi-toothless smile & you don’t get much more patriotic than that! Bug was pleased as punch with her hair & everyone who saw us loved it too! You’re bound to get lots of compliments & head turns sporting this fabulously patriotic style over the 4th of July!

We’d love it if you shared your pictures with us on our Facebook page if you end out trying this fabulous do! We wish everyone a fabulous & safe 4th of July holiday weekend.