06/14/2026
The FIRST American Flag
Today is national Flag Day. But did you know that our beloved Stars and Stripes is NOT the first flag for our country?
On New Year’s Day, 1776, George Washington ordered the first American flag raised to the top of a 76-foot liberty pole at the summit of a hill in Charlestown (now Somerville), Mass. Standing in formation on the hillside, several thousand soldiers watched the red, white and blue flutter against the sky. Redcoats saw it from the ships at anchor in the harbor and from their quarters in Boston, across the Charles River. The town’s inhabitants, patriot and loyalist alike, could see the flag, and so could the country people in the snow-covered fields beyond the hill.
The flag that flew over Prospect Hill that day was probably the “Grand Union Flag.” It had the Union Jack in the canton—the joined crosses of St. Andrew and St. George—and 13 red-and-white stripes.Some historians believe the flags expressed the colonists’ desire to reconcile with Britain. The 13 stripes showed the 13 colonies united, but the Union Jack acknowledged Britain’s sovereignty. After all, it was six months before the Declaration of Independence. Many colonists simply wanted Parliament to treated them on a level with other British subjects.
Washington had ordered the first American flag raised to recognize the national fighting force. He intended the ceremony to boost morale and unite the troops, who came from disparate backgrounds. He chose Prospect Hill, nicknamed “The Citadel,” because of its commanding views of the British troop movements.
But the flag meant something even more than that. It was the first to represent all 13 colonies. Until then, each colony used its own flag. The raising of the flag with a stripe for each colony signified the birth of a republic called the “United States of America.”
Some expected King George III to take up their cause with Parliament. But that hope would soon be dashed with a speech the king delivered to Parliament. The speech did not suggest the King supported the rebellion. King George instead announced he was sending more troops and ships to the colonies. They would suppress the “desperate conspiracy.” He also said he received “the most friendly offers of assistance” to put a “speedy end” to the revolt. On Jan. 1, 1776, the besieged British thought the colonial army had gotten the news about the King’s speech. What they apparently didn’t know was that the colonials would burn the speech on Prospect Hill. And so, they thought Washington had raised the flag to signal a willingness to surrender.
If you want to learn more about this pivotal time in the move towards war, come to our summer exhibit, “Homespun Kent: Revolutionary Households” which opens on June 27th. Read the full account of this story at
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-raising-of-the-first-american-flag/
