Historic US Flags

Seven historic flag designs that may be purchased individually or as a partial set. The name of each flag has been assigned a unique color to easily allow omission if desired when sewing out the design.

Bennington Flag

Used in the Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777, by Vermont militia. This flag is the first to lead American armed forces on land. The original is preserved in the museum at Bennington, Vermont. (USFlag.org)

Design sews in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Design Size:
99.3mm x 71.86mm - 18,974 stitches, 5 colors

Bennington Flag

Betsy Ross Flag

Since there was no official flag during the first year of the United States, there were a great number of homespun flag designs. This flag is without question the most well known of those. There are many reasons why this flag is confused with the first official U.S. flag and you can read about it here. (USFlag.org)

Design sews in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Design Size:
95.6mm x 72.07mm - 18,960 stitches, 5 colors

Betsy Ross Flag

Gadsden Flag

The American Revolutionary period was a time of intense but controlled individualism - when self-directing responsible individuals again and again decided for themselves what they should do, and did it- without needing anyone else to give them an assignment or supervise them in carrying it out.

Such a person was the patriot Colonel Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina. He had seen and liked a bright yellow banner with a hissing, coiled rattlesnake rising up in the center, and beneath the serpent the same words that appeared on the Striped Rattlesnake Flag - Don't Tread On Me. Colonel Gadsden made a copy of this flag and submitted the design to the Provincial Congress in South Carolina. Commodore Esek Hopkins, commander of the new Continental fleet, carried a similar flag in February, 1776, when his ships put to sea for the first time. (USFlag.org)

Design sews in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Design Size:
96.2mm x 70.92mm - 17,795 stitches, 5 colors

Gadsden Flag

Grand Union 1775

Also known as the Continental flag, it is the first true U.S. Flag. It combined the British King's Colours and the thirteen stripes signifying Colonial unity. George Washington liked this design so well that he chose it to be flown to celebrate the formation of the Continental Army on New Years Day, 1776. On that day the Grand Union Flag was proudly raised on Prospect Hill in Somerville, near his headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts. (USFlag.org)

Design sews in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Design Size:
96.2mm x 70.73mm - 19,772 stitches, 5 colors

Grand Union 1775

1st Naval Jack

The 1st Navy Jack: One of the first flags flown by our Navy may have been an adaptation of the "Rebellious Stripes" created at the time of the Stamp Act Congress. It featured thirteen red and white stripes. Stretched across them was the rippling form of a rattlesnake, and the words, "DON'T TREAD ON ME"- a striking indication of the colonists' courage and fierce desire for independence.

The flag we know today as the first Navy Jack (sometimes known as the "Culpepper Flag") is believed to have flown aboard the Alfred, flagship of the newly commissioned Continental fleet, in January, 1776. American ships used this flag, or one of its variations, throughout the Revolutionary War. This powerful American symbol was used by the Continental Navy in 1776 and is being used again by the U.S. Navy in the War on Terrorism.(USFlag.org)

Design sews in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Design Size:
95.80mm x 75.52mm - 21,640 stitches, 5 colors

1st Naval Jack

Guilford Flag

This unusual flag was made with thirteen 8-pointed stars in a wide field. Historical records report this flag carried by North Carolina militiamen at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, March 17,1781.

Design Size:
96.10mm x 71.66mm - 18.779 stitches, 5 colors

Guilford Flag

Serapis Flag

Designed with 13 stripes alternating red , white and blue. This flag was raised by Captain John Paul Jones on the British frigate Serapis during the most famous Revolutionary naval battle.

He was born John Paul in Scotland in 1747 and went to sea when he was only twelve years old. By the time he arrived in Philadelphia in 1775 as an experienced sea captain, he had changed his name to John Paul Jones.

After conducting sea raids on the coast of Britain, he took command in 1779 of a rebuilt French merchant ship, renamed the U.S.S.Bonhomme Richard to honor Benjamin Franklin. On September 23, 1779, Jones engaged the British frigate Serapis in the North Sea, daringly sailing in close, lashing his vessel to the British ship, and fighting the battle at point-blank range. During the fight two of his cannon burst, and the British captain asked Jones if he was ready to surrender. Replied Jones: "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight." The American crew finally boarded the Serapis after the British had struck her colors, and from the deck of the Serapis they watched the U.S.S.Bonhomme Richard sink into the North Sea.

Design Size:
96.70mm x 72.70mm - 19,288 stitches, 4 colors

Serapis Flag