Historic Flags of the United States

(Some well known and others not so well known)

 

Bedford Flag

     The Bedford Flag is the oldest complete flag known to exist in the United States.  It is celebrated as the flag carried by the Bedford Minuteman, Nathaniel Page, to the Concord Bridge  on April 19, 1775, the beginning of the American Revolution, but it was already an antique on that day.  It was made for a cavalry troop of the Massachusetts Bay militia early in the colonial struggle for the continent that we call “the French and Indian Wars.”

     The flag is a piece of crimson silk damask measuring about 27” long by 29” wide.  This small square shape indicates that it was a cavalry flag.  Into the rich red damask is woven a pattern of pomegranates, grapes, and leaves.  The design is painted on both sides of the flag, mainly in silver and gold.  The emblem consists of a mailed arm emerging from clouds and grasping a sword.  Three cannonballs hang in the air.  Encircling the arm is a gold ribbon on which the Latin words “VINCE AUT MORIRE” (Conquer or Die) is painted. On the reverse of the flag, the design is slightly different: the sword extends in front of the ribbon instead of behind; it is held left-handed; and the motto is read from bottom to top instead of top to bottom.

 

 
 
 
 
Taunton Flag 
 
     Symbolic of the widening gulf between Great Britain and her American colonies, this flag was first raised by the towns-people of Taunton, Massachusetts. By inscribing the watchword "Liberty" upon the meteor flag of England, the colonists dramatized their sentiments of loyalty to the homeland and resistance to the misgovernment by the British. The growing desire for self-rule and greater independence for the thirteen colonies eventually led to the outbreak of the revolutionary war one year later.
 
 
 
 
 
Liberty Flag

     The Sons of Liberty often met under the branches of a stately elm tree in Boston's Hanover Square, and there they planned the Boston Tea Party .  In reprisal, General Gage ordered the removal of the tree, which had become a living symbol of American liberty and independence. Enraged by this act and strengthened in their resolve, the colonists designed the Liberty Tree flag, which depicted their fallen symbol and appealed to God for his divine assistance. The flag of nine red and white stripes that represented these "Sons of Liberty" became known as the "Rebellious Stripes." Three and a half years after the Tea Party the thirteen colonies had come together in their decision to fight for independence and the nine stripes had grown to thirteen. 

 

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