American Flags During the Revolution

The recent HBO mini-series John Adams depicts many historical American flags that were used during the Revolutionary War period.

These flags were early versions of the national flag and some were used by regiments during the war. For instance, in the opening credits one of the flags shown is the Culpepper flag.



This flag represented a group of about one hundred minutemen from Culpepper, Virginia. The group formed part of Colonel Patrick Henry's First Virginia Regiment of 1775. In October-November 1775 three hundred such minutemen, led by Colonel Stevens, assembled at Culpepper Court House and marched for Williamsburg.

Their unusual dress alarmed the people as they marched through the country. The word "LIBERTY OR DEATH" were in large white letters on the breast of their hunting shirts. They had bucks' tails in their hats and in their belts, tomahawks and scalping knives.

Another flag that is used during the show is the Grand Union flag. This flag was never offically adopted by the Continental Congress but it is widely recongnized as the first flag of the United States



This flag was an alteration of the British Meteor flag. In its blue canton was the red cross of ST. George and the white cross of ST. Andrew. The thirteen stripes signified the original colonies.

The Washington Cruisers flag is also another flag shown in the opening credits of the miniseries.



This flag was used by George Washington on his squadron of six schooners which he outfitted at his own expense in the fall of 1775. This flag was a variation of the New England Pine Tree flag. It was later modified and adopted by the Massachusetts Navy.

The Sons of Liberty would rally under a large tree, in Boston Massachusetts, which came to be known as "The Liberty Tree". This tree became a symbol of American independence. Knowing they were up against a great military power they believed they were sustained by still a greater power, thus their "APPEAL TO HEAVEN".

If you are interested in the history of more early American flags visit our historical flags section on our website.