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 The Continental Colors, also known as the Grand Union
Flag, is considered the first national flag of the
United States. American militia units took to the field against
the British regulars as early as April, 1775, well before the
formal Declaration of Independence from Britain on July
4, 1776. By June, 1775, when George Washington was
appointed Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Armies,
it was apparent that a national color was needed to
represent the Colonies, and the Continental Color flag
was adopted for this purpose. The inclusion of a British Union Flag
in the canton of the flag representing the colonies is
not unexpected, since a formal declaration of
independence had not yet been made despite open warfare, and, at the opening of
the struggle, it was still undecided whether or not a
formal break with Britain was actually the ultimate goal of the
war. The first documented use of the flag occurred
on December 2, 1775, when John Paul Jones raised the
Continental Colors aboard the ship Alfred.
Although the circumstances are unclear, it is possible
that the Continental Colors were also raised by George
Washington's Army on New Year's Day, 1776, above
Prospect Hill in Charlestown, Boston, and initially
mistaken by the British command as a sign of surrender. The Continental
Colors appears in several period engravings of the time,
including a North Carolina $7.50 Halifax Note printed in
April, 1776. With the establishment of the formal
break from England and the formation of the United
States on July 4, 1776, the flag thus served as the
National Flag of the United States from that time through the early part of
1777, when its design was replaced by the Flag Act of
June 14, 1777, nearly one year after the Declaration of
Independence. The new Flag Act resolved: "That
the flag of the United States be made of thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be
thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a
new Constellation." The 13 stars replaced the
Union Flag canton, thus beginning the evolution of the
Stars and Stripes that we know today. Notice that
the Union Flag in the canton of the Continental Colors,
correctly mimicking the style of the British Union Flag
during the period of the American Revolution, does not
have the red St. Patrick's Cross over the white cross
stripes, as is seen in the modern British Union Flag.
Given the construction of
this flag, to include its thin woven cotton fabric,
treadle stitching, age and wear, I am confident that it
dates to the period of the American Centennial, circa 1876, when the Continental
Colors were revived and reproduced as part of the
celebration. The period of the American Centennial was a time of great patriotic fervor. In
honor of the events of 1776, Americans produced historic
reproductions of the flags of the Revolutionary War
period for the celebration. The American
Centennial Exposition, hosted by the City of
Philadelphia, commenced on January 1, 1876 at the
Pennsylvania Statehouse. The very first act to
open the Centennial Exposition on January 1st was the
hoisting of the Continental Colors above the
Pennsylvania Statehouse. The name "Grand Union
Flag", by which the flag is more commonly known today,
was only introduced later, in 1880, in George Henry Preble's
book, History of the Flag of the United States of
America. Early antique examples of the type, such as
this special flag, which is a particularly small example at
just two feet by two-and-a-half feet in size, are
extremely rare. Most likely fewer than ten, and possibly
as few as five, 19th century pieced-and-sew examples of this important
early flag are known. It is a treasure and holds a
special place in the Rare Flags
Collection of American National Flags.
The cotton fabric, treadle stitching, construction and
aging of the flag
are all consistent with other cotton flags in the Rare
Flags collection made during the
American Centennial of 1876.
Grand Union Historical Flag, Flags of
the World Website, http://flagspot.net/flags/us-gu.html
Grand Union Flag, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Union_Flag |
