ZFC Item Section - U.S. Continental Colors Flag Replica.

Exhibits Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.
Exhibition Copy	Chicago Meeting December, 2003 (ZFC0112) Continental Colors (Reproduction) Date: Circa 1976 Medium: 200 denier Oxford weave nylon bunting Comment: The Continental Colors was the first national flag of the United States. Its cantonthe upper hoist quarter of the flagbears a union of the crosses of St. George, symbolizing England, and St. Andrew, symbolizing Scotland. The presence of the British Union Jack in the canton reflects the conflicted feelings many Americans experienced as they strove for independence while still harboring some loyalty to King and Country. The field of alternating red and white horizontal stripes, a design possibly borrowed from the flag of the Sons of Liberty, expressed the unity of the 13 colonies seeking redress of their grievances against Parliament. The Continental Colors is first known to have been raised on Prospect Hill during the siege of Boston on January 2, 1776. Meant to signal colonial defiance of British authority, the flag was initially mistaken by the British as a sign of submission. The Continental Colors served the United States as a naval ensign and as a garrison flag throughout 1776 and at least until September 1777, three months after the Stars and Stripes was adopted. It received the first salute to the American flag when the ship Andrea Doria was honored by Dutch authorities in the Caribbean in November 1776. This flag is also referred to as the Grand Union flag. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0112) from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore, MD in 2000. An important artifact from the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Collection.

Exhibits

Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.

Exhibition Copy

Chicago Meeting December, 2003
(ZFC0112)
Continental Colors (Reproduction)
Date: Circa 1976
Medium: 200 denier Oxford weave nylon bunting
Comment: The Continental Colors was the first national flag of the United States. Its cantonthe upper hoist quarter of the flagbears a union of the crosses of St. George, symbolizing England, and St. Andrew, symbolizing Scotland. The presence of the British Union Jack in the canton reflects the conflicted feelings many Americans experienced as they strove for independence while still harboring some loyalty to King and Country. The field of alternating red and white horizontal stripes, a design possibly borrowed from the flag of the Sons of Liberty, expressed the unity of the 13 colonies seeking redress of their grievances against Parliament.
The Continental Colors is first known to have been raised on Prospect Hill during the siege of Boston on January 2, 1776. Meant to signal colonial defiance of British authority, the flag was initially mistaken by the British as a sign of submission. The Continental Colors served the United States as a naval ensign and as a garrison flag throughout 1776 and at least until September 1777, three months after the Stars and Stripes was adopted. It received the first salute to the American flag when the ship Andrea Doria was honored by Dutch authorities in the Caribbean in November 1776.

This flag is also referred to as the Grand Union flag.
Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0112) from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore, MD in 2000.
An important artifact from the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Collection.