Ardis, thank you for posting these covers relating to our beloved country’s independence. The June 27th cover with the painting of Washington’s raising of the Grand Union flag appears to depict the event on Prospect Hill, a short distance from Cambridge, MA January 1st 1776. Washington had been named as General-in-Chief just a few months earlier. This was the first “official” flag of the revolution. Because it varied only by the stripes on the field from the British battle flag–same canton but with a red field–the Loyalists watching from Boston thought it was a sign of respect for George III and a capitulation by the rebels overlooking Boston.The legendary Betsy Ross design with the canton in blue with the thirteen white stars in a circle, “The New Constellation”, soon replaced it. The Grand Union flag flies over Fort Ticonderoga today.
Ardis, thank you for posting these covers relating to our beloved country’s independence. The June 27th cover with the painting of Washington’s raising of the Grand Union flag appears to depict the event on Prospect Hill, a short distance from Cambridge, MA January 1st 1776. Washington had been named as General-in-Chief just a few months earlier. This was the first “official” flag of the revolution. Because it varied only by the stripes on the field from the British battle flag–same canton but with a red field–the Loyalists watching from Boston thought it was a sign of respect for George III and a capitulation by the rebels overlooking Boston.The legendary Betsy Ross design with the canton in blue with the thirteen white stars in a circle, “The New Constellation”, soon replaced it. The Grand Union flag flies over Fort Ticonderoga today.
Comment by Curt A. — June 29, 2009 @ 8:08 am