[GUEST AUTHOR: Rachel Rodewald contributed this patriotic post as a special installment of Writing for the Public Square. Rachel holds a Master’s Degree in History from George Mason University.]
Flags and banners remain a tangible expression of the patriotism our Founding Fathers inspired generations ago.
Imagine you are a soldier in the Continental Army and you’ve just scored a victory on the battlefield. You want to rally with your peers to celebrate your success, but the confusion of the moment—the literal fog of war—has you turned around and lost. Then, in the distance, you spot it. Your regimental flag with its distinctive colors and symbols waves in the smoke-filled air—a patriotic beacon of hope and brotherhood.
Thankfully, today we associate our flags more with celebration and patriotism and less with the stress and anxiety of war. The American flag and some state and local flags are now ubiquitous and inspiring. They fly in public settings like post offices and banks, baseball games and parades, political rallies and memorial services. We even wear them on patriotic shirts and hats.
We display and maintain our flags with specific, respectful criteria. A familiarity with foreign flags even helps us better understand international sporting events and helps us connect current events to impressions we might have about those countries.
So why were flags and banners so important to an early American nation? And how did they become such a powerful part of the American story?
Sign of the Times
In Colonial America, citizens banded together to speak out against a growing number of abuses by Britain’s Parliament. The Sons of Liberty is one of the most famous of these resistance organizations. The group’s leaders—men like Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere—commissioned flags to inspire and unify members long before the American Revolution even broke out.
These early flags often used a combination of symbols and slogans that were key signifiers of liberty in that period. Red and white stripes were favorites from as early as the 1760s—a motif that foretold our current flag. The British called them the “Rebellious Stripes.”
The Sons of Liberty and other groups often incorporated the British Union Jack in their designs hoping to leverage their rights as British subjects. They frequently paired the familiar motif with provocative slogans, like the 1774 Taunton Flag shown here that boldly proclaimed “Liberty and Union” to local citizens.
The Bedford Flag is another pre-Revolutionary example that took provocative to a new level. Traditionally believed to have been carried into battle at Concord, Massachusetts in 1775, it featured the Latin slogan Vince Aut Morire, meaning “Conquer or Die” or “Victory or Else Death.” The sentiment mirrored that of Patrick Henry’s famous declaration a few weeks earlier in distant Virginia: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Patriotic Regimental Flags
In wartime, every regiment and many ships adopted their won flags or jacks for easy identification in the field and as a tribute to past victories. Regimental flags still incorporated slogans, but often paired them with more personal and recognizable regional symbols.
For the troops in South Carolina, Colonel William Moultrie designed a simple blue flag with a white crescent inscribed with the message, “Liberty.” The Moultrie Flag flew over the pivotal Battle of Sullivan Island in Charleston Harbor. In fierce fighting, Moultrie’s men held firm against the British and preserved the harbor—an early and important victory for the American cause. If you look carefully, you’ll notice Moultrie’s moon still shines in South Carolina’s state flag today.
Perhaps the most familiar regimental flag lingering in today’s public consciousness is the Gadsden Flag used by the Continental Marines. This distinctive bright yellow flag features a menacing rattlesnake and the slogan, “Don’t Tread on Me.” Its patriotic popularity continues today and can be seen on lawn flagpoles, license plates and other merchandise.
Formalizing America’s Flag
Legend has it that Philadelphia flagmaker Elizabeth Griscom (a.k.a. Betsy Ross) sewed the most famous flag of the Revolutionary War era in June 1776. American school children for generations have recognized its circle of five-pointed stars and thirteen red and white horizontal stripes. Griscom’s grandson William J. Canby heard the story of Griscom meeting with Founding Father’s George Washington and Robert Morris. In 1870, Canby shared the tale in a presentation to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the rest…is history.
The Second Continental Congress passed its first Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777, which is the date we now celebrate Flag Day in the United States. The law called for the arrangement of stars and stripes, a design that would become increasingly standardized over time.
Congress did not specify the use of a red, white and blue color scheme. But, in 1782, Secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thompson would suggest that white signified purity and innocence. Red expressed hardiness and valor. And blue represented vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
Further Flag Acts would be signed to acknowledge more and more states being added to the new Union. The current 50-star flag—unchanged since 1959—has been the longest-used rendition of our national flag.
More Patriotic Pondering
REFLECTION 250: As we approach America’s Semiquincentennial, what does Old Glory mean to you? How do the symbols and slogans in your city or state flags represent our patriotic history, and how do they represent you?
REFLECTION 250: If you want to learn more about flags and banners from the American Revolution, here’s a tip. Visit the Museum of the American Revolution’s excellent online exhibit Banners of Liberty.
This article is part of Writing for the Public Square’s Countdown America 250 series celebrating the semiquincentennial of America’s founding. For more Founding Fun Facts, patriotic trivia and news-you-can-use to get involved with the Semiquincentennial, visit the Writing for the Public Square Facebook page today!