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Grand Union Flag

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Not to be confused with the Flag of the East India Company.

Continental Union Flag
Flag of the United Colonies
De facto flag of the United States until 1777
Other namesfirst American flag, Cambridge Flag, and Grand Union Flag
UseNational flag and ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Flag can be hung vertically by hoisting on a normal pole, then turning the pole 90°
AdoptedDecember 3, 1775
(248 years ago) (1775-12-03)
RelinquishedJune 14, 1777 (1777-06-14)
DesignA Union Flag, with thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, in the field.

The Continental Union Flag (often referred to as the first American flag, Cambridge Flag, and Grand Union Flag) was the flag of the United Colonies from 1775 to 1776; and the de facto flag of the United States until 1777, when the thirteen star flag was adopted by the Continental Congress.

The Continental Union Flag was so called because it combined the Union Flag (denoting the kingdoms of England and Scotland) with thirteen stripes (representing the United Colonies).

The canton consists of the cross of St. George (red cross on a white ground) and the cross of St. Andrew (diagonal white cross on a blue ground); the field of thirteen horizontal stripes (alternate red and white).

The Continental Union Flag made its first appearance on December 3, 1775, when it was hoisted at the commissioning of Admiral Esek Hopkins' flagship on the western shore of the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Origin of name[edit]

Known as the Continental Union Flag or the first American flag during the Revolutionary War,[1][2] the name Continental Union Flag was derived from a combination of the words "Continental," referring to the Continental Congress, and "Union Flag," referring to the Royal Union Flag of 1707 used in the Colonies.

Often referred to as the Cambridge Flag and Grand Union Flag; the terms domain did not come into use until the mid-19th century. Although it has been claimed that the more recent moniker, Grand Union Flag, was first applied to the Continental Union Flag by G. Henry Preble in his 1872 book History of the American Flag;[3] the first substantiated use of the name came from Philadelphia resident T. Westcott in 1852 when replying to an inquiry made in Notes and Queries, a London periodical, as to the origin of the U.S. flag.[4]

Design[edit]

In a letter to members of the Continental Congress from Virginia dated January 5, 1776, the Naval Committee decribed the Continental Union Flag as the British "Union flag... striped red and white in the field."[5] Having seen the Continental Union Flag flying aboard Admiral Esek Hopkins' flagship a few days later, a Philadelphia resident further defined the flag as a British "Union flag, with 13 stripes in the field, emblematical of the Thirteen United Colonies."[6]

Vexillologist Nick Groom believes incorporation of the King's Standard in the canton of the Continental Union Flag suggests the Americans adopted it, not as a protest against the British Ministry, but as a profession of loyalty to King George III.[7] This view is shared by Laurie Calkhoven, a biographer of George Washington, who suggests the flag was designed to reflect their hope for justice from George III.[8]

The Continental Union Flag is strikingly similar to the British East India Company Flag. The red and white stripes on that flag, however, varied from nine to fifteen. One theory is that Americans would have been somewhat familiar with the East India Company Flag and it may have influenced the design.[9]

History[edit]

By the end of 1775, during the first year of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress operated as a de facto war government, who had authorized the creation of the Continental Army, the Navy, and Marines. A new flag was needed to represent both the Congress and the United Colonies, with a banner distinct from the British Red Ensign flown from civilian and merchant vessels, the White Ensign of the Royal Navy, and the Union Flag carried on land by the British army. The emerging states had been using their own independent flags, with Massachusetts using the Taunton Flag, and New York using the George Rex Flag, prior to the adoption of united colors.[citation needed][10]It is not known for certain when or by whom the Continental Union Flag design was created, but the flag could easily be produced by sewing white stripes onto the British Red Ensign.[3]

The Continental Ship Alfred by W. Nowland Van Powell, depicting Lieutenant John Paul Jones hoisting first American flag on December 3, 1775, on the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Americans first hoisted the Continental Union Flag on the colonial warship Alfred, in the harbor on the western shore of the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 3, 1775, under the command of the new appointed Lieutenant John Paul Jones of the formative Continental Navy. The event was documented in letters to Congress and eyewitness accounts.[5] The "Alfred" flag has been credited to Margaret Manny.[11] The flag was also used as a naval ensign and garrison flag throughout 1776 and early 1777.[12]

Main article: Flag on Prospect Hill debate

It was widely believed that the flag was raised by George Washington's army on January 2, 1776, at Prospect Hill in Charlestown (now part of Somerville), near his headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts (across the Charles River to the north from Boston), which was then surrounding and laying siege to the British forces then occupying the city.[8] It is also stated that the flag was interpreted by British military observers in the city under commanding General Thomas Gage, as a sign of surrender.[13][14] However, some scholars dispute the traditional account and conclude that the flag raised at Prospect Hill was probably the flag of Great Britain,[3] though subsequent research supports the contrary.[15][16]

The Continental Union Flag became obsolete following the passing of the Flag Act of 1777 by the Second Continental Congress. The new national flag replaced the Union Flag in the canton with thirteen stars (representing the United States) on a field of blue. The resolution describes only a "new constellation" for the arrangement of the white stars in the blue canton, so overall designs were later interpreted and made with rows, columns, a square with one star in the center, a circle, and various other designs.[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ "Williamsburg, April 20". The Virginia Gazette. No. 1289. Williamsburg, Virginia. April 20, 1776. p. 3. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Boston, November 25". Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet. Vol. VI, no. 268. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. December 27, 1776. p. 2. ISSN 2689-7180. OCLC 9833137. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c Ansoff 2006.
  4. ^ "Origin of the American Flag". Springfield Daily Republican. Vol. 9, no. 245. Springfield, Massachusetts. October 16, 1852. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Clark 1960, p. 640.
  6. ^ "Newbern (N. Carolina), Feb. 9". The Virginia Gazette. No. 1282. Williamsburg, Virginia. March 2, 1776. p. 2. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Groom, Nick (2017). The Union Jack: the story of the British flag. London: Atlantic Books. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-84354-336-7.
  8. ^ a b Calkhoven, Laurie (2007). George Washington. An American Life. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-4027-3546-2. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Fawcett 1937.
  10. ^ Rankin, Hugh F. “The Naval Flag of the American Revolution.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 11, no. 3, 1954, pp. 340–53. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1943310. Accessed 20 Feb. 2023.
  11. ^ Leepson 2006, p. 51.
  12. ^ "Short History of the United States Flag". American Battlefield Trust. November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  13. ^ Preble 1880, p. 218.
  14. ^ "A Short History of the American Flag". What So Proudly We Hail. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  15. ^ Orchard, Chris (December 30, 2013). "Research upholds traditional Prospect Hill flag story". Patch. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  16. ^ DeLear, Byron (2014). "Revisiting the Flag at Prospect Hill: Grand Union or Just British?" (PDF). Raven: A Journal of Vexillology. 21: 54. doi:10.5840/raven2014213.
  17. ^ Cooper, Grace Rogers (1973). Thirteen-Star Flags: Keys to Identification (Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology. No. 21 ed.). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 10–11.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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