| Fraunces Tavern Houses More than
200 Flags Fraunces Tavern Museum houses more than 200 Revolutionary
War era flags collected by the Color Guard of the Sons of the Revolution.
Most of the flags are reproductions, based on careful research of
manuscripts. A few of the flags are originals, having survived for
centuries. In the era before cell phones or radios, flags played
an important role in identifying military units from a distance.
This was even more important with ships. A careful look through
a telescope could identify an approaching vessel as
a friend or foe before it entered cannon range.
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Early National Standard
This is a rare original national standard. Little is known of
its origins, or where it flew. It was made according to the flag resolution
of 1777 and may well pre-date the resolution of
1794 which called for 15 stars and 15 stripes.
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Cross of St. George
St. George became the patron saint of England and this flag became
the Royal Standard in the late 13th century during the reign of Edward
I. The Cross of St. George was the first English flag planted on North
American soil when explorer John Cabot arrived in Newfoundland in
1497. The flag was also flown on the foremast of the Constant, which
brought English settlers to Jamestown in 1607 and on the Mayflower
in 1620. |
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King's Colors
England and Scotland united under James I in 1603, and in 1606 the
union of the two countries was symbolized by the union of the English
Cross of St. George and the Scottish Cross of St. Andrew (a white
'X' on a blue field) in a new national flag. This flag eventually
became known as the Union Jack. It flew on the mainmasts of the Constant
and Mayflower. This was the American flag for more than 100 years.
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British Red Ensign
This flag, which placed the King's Colors in the corner of a
red field, was adopted as the British national flag in 1707 by
Queen Anne. It remained the flag of Great Britain until 1801.
It was the flag under which the British fought during the Revolution.
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