Pictorial Salute To Old Glory -American Flags

This hub is a pictorial salute to the U. S. Flag and the American Flag background. There will be included several American Flags clipart and other original American Flag pictures.

This picture: The Promise - Like the flag she appears to be saluting in this unique photograph, the Statue of Liberty recalls old glories— and dreams yet to be fulfilled.

Of the pine trees, beavers, and various other symbols appearing on colonial flags, the rattlesnake emblem was most engaging. American patriots preferred this native New World creature as a suitable symbol for their cause because they, too, insisted they would not strike unless provoked-and would give fair warning first.

The troops of the Continental Army assembling on New Year's Day 1776 brought along their own individual local flags-but they were pledged to fight as one under General George Washington and bring honor to a new flag. Combining British crosses with the red and white stripes of the Colonies, suggesting that there was still hope for reconciliation, it was known as the Grand Union Flag.

Early flagmakers interpreted the first American flag resolution's specification "thirteen stars . . . representing a new constellation" quite imaginatively. Stars arranged in a circle (above) were popular, while Long Islander John Hulbert (who some historians think deserves at least equal billing with Betsy Ross) placed the stars in a geometric cluster (below).

Some Flag experts believe this flag, used at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777, is the oldest Stars and Stripes in existence.

"Bennington Flag"

"... Please note that the actual relic flag is on display at the museum in Bennington, Vermont. Grace Cooper, NAVA member and former curator of textiles at the Smithsonian Institution has observed this flag at close range and is of the opinion that its material was woven on a power loom in the early 19th Century. There is no record of this flag or its design prior to the _late_ 19th Century when it was on display at the Chicago Public Library. The oral family tradition that went with this flag stated that it flew at the Battle of Bennington in 1777, (by Nathaniel Fillmore, grandfather of U.S. President Millard Fillmore). In 1926 it was donated to the Bennington folks by the last Fillmore family owner. There is definitely no contemporary reference to a stars and stripes flag of any design carried at the Battle of Bennington."

Believing American naval Captain John Paul Jones's ship theBon Homme Richard doomed after three hours' battle at close quarters, the captain of the British ship Serapu demanded, "Will you surrender? " Jones's reply: "I have not yet begun to fight! " Jones triumphed, only to watch his ship sink the next morning. In his diary he wrote, "The very last vestige mortal eyes ever saw of the Bon Homme Richard was the defiant waving of her unconquered and unstricken flag as she went down. And as I had given them the good old ship for their sepulchre, I now bequeathed to my immortal dead the Flag they had so desperately defended, for their winding sheet."

The Original Star-Spangled Banner Of 15 Stars And 15 Stripes (mandated by Congress after the admission of Vermont and Kentucky), waved triumphantly over Fort McHenry in September 1814.

Many of the picutres used in this hub are taken from, Old Glory: History and Celebration and can be purchased on Amazon.com. If interested click <HERE>.