January 7, 2001

Old Glory

It's a charming story - but Betsy Ross did not sew together the first American flag from a design by George Washington.

That claim was made by her grandson when he was an old man. He said Betsy, a widow seamstress, told him the story when he was an 11-year-old boy.

He stated a delegation consisting of Gen. Washington; Robert Morris, a member of the Continental Congress; and George Ross, the uncle of Betsy's late husband, came to her Philadelphia home in May 1776. They asked her to make the first American flag of 13 stripes and 13 six-pointed stars.

Mrs. Ross was said to have accepted the job but recommended a five-point star that could be cut perfectly from folded cloth by one snip of a scissors.

Alas, the story is untrue.

There is no documentation to support the tale. Gen. Washington was desperately engaged that year repulsing the British from Boston and New York. The nation had not yet been declared nor a starred flag authorized by the Continental Congress.

Early Flags

An early American flag was that carried by the Bedford Minutemen when they faced the British Regulars at Concord. The banner consisted of a red field on which was superimposed a steel-clad arm reaching from a cloud. In the hand was a sword. Surrounding hand and sword was a golden scroll bearing the inscription "Vince Aut Morire (Conquer or Die).

Realizing that a war was likely, the Continental Congress installed cannon on three merchant ships and commissioned a United States Navy on Dec. 3, 1775. At that time, the first "national" flag was designated which came to be known as the Congress Colors.

Washington, then commanding Continental troops besieging Boston, referred to the banner as the Grand Union flag. It consisted of 13 horizontal stripes alternate red and white with a British Union jack in the upper left corner.

Capt. John Paul Jones personally raised the first such flag on the U.S.N. Alfred that day.

The new flag was first displayed in battle a month later at Prospect Hill near Cambridge by Continental troops besieging British-Held Boston.

Two other early flags are of particular interest because either or both were carried in the fight which took place on Breed's Hill  -- mistakenly recorded as nearby Bunker Hill -- on June 17, 1776. One flag was blue the other red. Both featured the British Cross of St. George and a green pine tree.

It was the Congress Colors that was raised at the Philadelphia State House where the Declaration of Independence was adopted July 2, 1776, and proclaimed from the State House steps two days later when the resolution had been transcribed on parchment by Thomas Jefferson. It also was the one saluted at French and Dutch seaports in recognition of the new republic.

Stars And Stripes

Many theories have been advanced concerning the Stars and Stripes. The two elements existed in the flag of the British East India Company, the flag of Rhode Island and the heraldic shield of Washington's ancestors in Britain.

Old Glory pretty much as we know it today, was adopted as the official flag by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on June 14, 1877 - hence today's Flag Day: "Resolved that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

Washington explained the symbolism of the United States Flag as the stars representing the colonies taken from heaven, the red from England, and the white stripes added to indicate a separation from the mother country.

Inasmuch as the resolution was reported from the Marine Committee, the flag probably represented ideas from its members. The person most likely to have shaped the design was Francis Hopkinson. He was a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, a member of the Marine Committee and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hopkinson in 1779 sent a letter to the U.S. Admiralty Board stating he deserved remuneration for past services. These included: "A Great Seal for the United States of America with a Reverse, a seal for the Admiralty Board, and the Flag of the United States of America."

His request was turned down because "he was not the only person consulted" in formulating the designs and therefore did not deserve full payment.

Another Legend

Another legend recounts that the first battle in which the Stars and Stripes was flown was at the British siege of Fort Stanwix in New York on Aug. 3, 1777. The American officers - upon being told of the new flag - are said to have hurriedly stitched one from a red petticoat, white shirt and blue cloak.

The defenders did sew a flag together, but the record clearly indicates it was the Congress Colors. In any event, the British were abandoned by their Indian allies and so prudently withdrew.

There was no uniformity in early versions of Old Glory. The stripes remained the same, but the resolution did not spell out the star arrangement. In most cases, all 13 stars were formed in a circle. Occasionally, though, the circle would consist of 12 stars with the 13th in the center. The stars sometimes contained five, six or eight points.

A favorite arrangement consisted of three horizontal rows of stars with four in the top and bottom rows and five in the middle.

A popular design reproduced during the U.S. Bicentennial was that of the Benington Militia of 1777. This arrangement featured a semicircle of stars around the numeral 76.

Star Spangled Banner

When Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the union in 1794, the flag was officially altered to consist of 15 stripes and l5 stars. This is the flag Francis Scott Key saw waving over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 - a sight that inspired him to compose "The Star Spangled Banner" song.

After five more states were admitted to the Union in 1817, Congress decided to return to the original 13 stripes and add a star for each new state.

Though Betsy Ross did not sew the first Old Glory, there was found among her papers after her death a voucher dated May 29, 1777, in the amount of 14 English pounds received for flags made for the Pennsylvania Marine guard.

Undoubtedly this was the source of her flag story - enlarged by patriotism and fond memory in her old age. Inasmuch as we don't know who did sew that first United States flag, she might as well have the credit.

Author: Lindsey Williams

cutline - 3 col., manor house

bgital Photo by Lindsey Williams  endital

[ The manor house of George Washington's great-grandfather at Sulgrave, England, displays over the entrance a shield emblem consisting of stars and stripes - a popular heraldic device. It is speculated the elements were suggested by Gen. George Washington for the American flag. ]