Flags

Allison-Antrim Museum
Greencastle, PA

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Reproduction Historic Flags of the United States
and the Pennsylvania State Flag

July 14 and 18, 2002

Taunton The naval flags were perhaps an even more familiar sight to the flourishing maritime colonists than the British Union Flag. The most common of these was the English Red Ensign or Meteor Flag. The people of Taunton, Massachusetts, added the words “Liberty and Union” on this flag in 1774 and so displayed for all to see their growing dissatisfaction with the motherland.
Washington’s Cruisers In the fall of 1755, General Washington outfitted a squadron of six schooners at his own expense for use in the coastal waters off the Colonies. His secretary suggested the use of this flag, which was then flying over the floating batteries. The pine tree was used on many Revolutionary flags and was called the Liberty Tree. The Liberty Tree, the most well-known one was in Boston, was a place where colonists gathered to express their growing dissatisfaction with the British government. The significance and symbolism of the Pine Tree grew stronger after the British Troops chopped down Boston’s Liberty Tree.
The Green Mountains Early on the morning of May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and a small force of his Green Mountain Boys stole silently into the British-held Fort Ticonderogra and demanded its surrender “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.” Colonel Henry Knox transported the captured cannon and mortars that winter across the rugged snow-covered mountains of New England. Their installation on the heights overlooking Boston Harbor enabled Washington to force the British to leave that important seaport. The “Green Mountain Boys” fought under General Stark at the Battle of Bennington. They carried this, his flag, which now is considered their flag.
Bedford This – the first flag of the Revolution to receive a baptism of British Fire – was said to have been carried by the Bedford Minute Men at Concord on the fateful 19^th day of April 1775.
Philadelphia Light Horse No more colorful unit responded to the call to arms than the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry. Known as the Philadelphia Light Horse, the Troop served as Washington’s escort when he left Philadelphia to take command of the Continental Army at Cambridge in June of 1775. This flag was later carried in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown.
Viking Banner The Vikings revered the raven. When they ranged far from their native shores, they would release a raven, and it would fly in the direction of land, guiding them to safety. Thorfinn Karlsefni, brother of Leif Ericson, probably carried the symbol of the raven to the New World in 1003 A.D
Christopher Columbus This is the Captain’s Flag of Columbus, one of several that he flew. It has an F (Fernando) and Y (Ysabel), King and Queen of Spain, with a cross between the initials with royal crowns above the initials. This flag was not Christopher Columbus’ personal flag. The other flags that Columbus few were the Castile and Leon (flag of Spain) and the Royal Flag of the Catholic Kings which was white with the coat of arms of the Catholic Kings.
British Union The British Union Flag, sometimes called the “Union Jack”, was created about 1706 through the union of England’s Cross of St. George with Scotland’s Cross of St. Andrew. This was the banner that rose above the early English settlements of the New World.
Continental One of the variations of the Pine Tree flags.
Pine Tree One of the variations of the Pine Tree flags.
The Culpepper Men One of the variations of the “snake” and “Don’t Tread on Me” flags.
Rattlesnake Several versions of the “Striped Rattlesnake Flag” are identified with Revolutionary naval forces. The flag we know today as the 1^st Navy Jack was flown aboard the Alfred, flagship of the newly commissioned Continental fleet, in January 1776. It was Benjamin Franklin who first created the “snake” in a political cartoon that was later used on a number of Revolutionary flags.
Gadsden Patriot Colonel Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina designed this flag and presented it to the Continental Congress. Commodore Esek Hopkins, commander of the new Continental fleet, carried it when his ships put to sea for the first time in February 1776. On March 17, Hopkins captured large stores of British cannon and military supplies in the Bahamas.
Bennington This flag, with its unusual arrangement of Stars and Stripes, flew over the military stores in Bennington, Vermont on August 16, 1777. General John Stark’s militia led the Americans in decisively defeating a large British raiding force, thus protecting the precious military supplies at Bennington. This flag was a gift to the museum from A. Richard “Dick” Walck.
Fort Moultrie The crescent flag of Colonel William Moultrie’s South Carolina Militia was flying above the defenses on Sullivan Island in Charleston Harbor on June 28, 1776. The British fleet attacked on that day. In the course of the battle, the flag was shot away and fell the outer works. Sergeant William Jasper, defying shot and shell, heroically recovered the banner and, fastening it on a cannon ramrod, implanted it once again on the bastion.
Guilford Courthouse General Greene’s militiamen carried this flag at the Battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina. On March 15, 1781, in one of the bloodiest battles of the long war, the British lost more than a quarter of their force.
Alamo After thirteen days of continuous assaults, the Mexican Army under Santa Anna on March 16, 1836 breached the walls of the Alamo at San Antonio, Texas. Among the 187 defenders who died that morning were men who had already become legends in their time – among them Jim Bowie, Davey Crockett, and William Travis. All were avenged six weeks later when Sam Houston, with the cry “Remember the Alamo”, defeated Santa Annan and established the Texas Republic.
Cavalry Guidon A guidon is a small flag carried by a military unit as a unit marker. The swallowtail ends allow the tails to stand straight out while on the move, and make it easily seen by the men in the unit.
Grand Union The Grand Union was the first flag of the new American nation, though it was not recognized as such when it was first raised. On January 1, 1776, the Continental Army came into formal existence. The next day in Cambridge, Massachusetts, George Washington, Commander-in-Chief, accepted this “Union Flag in Compliment to the United Colonies.” The thirteen stripes signified the original colonies. Because the colonists were still British subjects, this flag respected and maintained the tie with England by retaining the Union Jack flag crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in the upper left corner, but expressed their separateness through the use of the thirteen red and white stripes.
First Stars and Stripes The Continental Congress resolved on June 14, 1777, “that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternating red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Congress, in its first flag resolution did not specify an arrangement for the stars in the union, and s a result there were many variations in the flags that followed. Some historians feel there is not enough evidence to confirm the legend that Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross made the first Stars and Stripes. But true or not, this flag is often called the “Betsy Ross Flag”.
Thirteen Star One of the many variations on the thirteen-star flag.
Star-Spangled Banner This 15 star-spangled banner was flying above Fort McHenry at Baltimore when the British attacked on September 13, 1814. Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer, had gone aboard a British ship seeking the release of a friend held prisoner. He was detained throughout the night. The sight of the American flag still flying over the fortress the next morning inspired Key to write what later (in 1931) became our National Anthem.
33-Star At the beginning of the Civil War, the official United States flag had 33 stars. This is the flag that was flying over Fort Sumter in April 1861 during the battle that marked the beginning of the Civil War. Because President Abraham Lincoln chose to preserve the Union and not accept the secession of the Southern states, all 33 stars remained on the flag throughout the Civil War.
45-Star Flag This flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4^th, 1896 and flew until 1908. The Presidents to serve under this flag were Grover Cleveland (1893-1897), William McKinley (1897-1901), and Theodore Rossevelt (1901-1901). This flag flew during the Spanish American War. Teddy Roosevelt carried this flag with his Rough Riders, one of whom was Greencastle-Antrim’s Henry Prather Fletcher. The Spanish American War marked the beginning of Fletcher’s long service to the United States. Fletcher served 51 years under eight presidents as a United States ambassador to four countries and held various secretarial positions with legations to three other countries. He was also Chairman of the National Republican Committee and invited President Herbert H. Hoover, as his guest, to Rosemont in Greencastle. This flag was a gift to the museum from A. Richard “Dick” Walck.
48-Star Flag Twice in the 20^th Century, America rose to protect man’s freedom in World Wars. No single incident better reflects the resolute courage and valor of those who fought and died that we might be free than the raising of the 48-Star Flag over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. This flag was a gift to the museum from A. Richard “Dick” Walck.
Pennsylvania State Flag The first Pennsylvania State Flag to display the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms was authorized by the General Assembly in 1799. The state Coat of Arms was embroidered on a blue field on both sides of the flag. The state Coat of Arms, containing the emblems of the official state seal, was that of Provincial Pennsylvania's Penn family. It first appeared on paper money issued by the state in 1777 and two years later was adopted for display on the state flag. During the Civil War, many Pennsylvania regiments carried a modified version of the Stars and Stripes. Substituted for the field of stars on Old Glory was the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms. In June of 1907, an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly standardized the design of the flag and required that the field of blue be the same color as the blue of the Flag of the United States. This information is from www.netstate.com This flag was a gift to the museum from A. Richard “Dick” Walck.
50-Star Flag Flying from the museum’s front porch pillar is the 27^th flag of the United States. The Stars and Stripes received its fiftieth star when Hawaii was admitted as a state on August 21, 1959. The flag became official on July 4, 1960. Nine presidents have served under this flag: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961); John F. Kennedy (1961-1963); Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969); Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974); Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977); Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); Ronald W. Reagan (1981-1989); George Bush (1989-1993); William J. Clinton (1993-2001); George W. Bush (2001-present). This flag was draped over President Kennedy’s coffin. Early on Sunday, July 20, 1969, 238,548 miles from Earth, a 50-star flag was planted and unfurled on the stark landscape of Earth’s moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Commander of the lunar module EAGLE, and Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. then stood back and saluted it. Three heroic firemen, representative of their fallen brothers and sisters, rescued and raised the Stars and Stripes on a sight in the rubble at Ground Zero. In doing so, they gave all Americans hope that made us stand taller with even more pride after September 11^th.

This information was collected and compiled by Bonnie A. Shockey from the following sources.

Flags Across America literature