The first distinctive American Flag indicating a union of the colonies was known as the Grand Union Flag, the Great Union Flag, the Continental Flag, or the Cambridge Flag. It was flown for the first time, January 1, 1776, by troops of the Continental Army around Boston. The thirteen stripes stood for the union of the colonies and their revolt against the mother country, while in the upper left-hand corner, it bore the union of the British flag (crosses of Saints George and Andrew) representing the allegiance which was yet partially acknowledged.[1] This was the main flag of the American Revolution for almost the entire war, even after the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. The Flag Resolution, which detailed the stars and stripes, was passed by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It only referred to maritime use to be flown from ships. Much later in the war, the stars and stripes were to be raised over land-based fortifications; however, it was never carried by infantry into battle [sorry Mel Gibson].
At the start of the conflict there were many flags adopted by militias and Committees of Safety to represent their rebellion. The American Revolution, like most revolutions, preceded in stages, each one characterized by certain goals. Emblems distinguished the formative years of the revolution from the first protests in 1765 to the outbreak of actual hostilities in the spring of 1775. They were local symbols having only limited appeal to the nation as a whole which called on the King, Parliament, and Heaven for a preservation or restoration of the rights of Englishmen.[2] They used several regional symbols such as the pine tree for New Englander’s hardiness, the anchor for Rhode Island’s maritime status, or in the south, the crescent moon, flown during the Battle of Fort Sullivan, June 28, 1776. Often a snake was used, first appearing in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754. A snake was cut in eight pieces with the words ‘Join or Die’, representing the disunited colonies. Later it reappeared during the 1765 Stamp Act protests with variations, including words such as ‘Don’t Tread on Me’. We see the use of the piecemeal snake in newspapers throughout June 1774 – August 1776.[3] After hostilities erupted, the whole snake represented the unification of colonies, becoming more common on flags from 1775 – 1778; often with a yellow background, but so too on the later Grand Union Flag.
From the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill (April – June 1775), until the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, there followed a transitional period: Americans were forced to choose sides and to determine just how far they were willing to go in fighting conditions that they felt unjust, while at the same time the British government faced its last opportunities to make amends or to crush the rebellion decisively. It was at this time that the first (unofficial) national flag of the United States, the Continental Colors, was born.[4]
Bedford Flag – carried by minutemen of Bedford at the Battle of Lexington and Concord April 19 1775 
Bunker Hill Flag – Pine Tree variation – carried at Battle the pine tree symbolized New Englanders hardiness 
Gadsden Flag by Colonel Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina Snake was on a yellow background. 
Moultrie Flag – 1775 – flown in the south particularly at the Battle of Charleston, June 28, 1776 
New England design – similar to Colonel Reed’s suggestion for navy ships. 
Another variation of the Pine Tree Flags 
Tauton Flag – First flown in Tauton Mass in 1774. 
Rhode Island Flag of 1775 – first to have a field of stars on blue 
Another version of the Gadsden flag which the first marine flag.
On July 3, 1775, Washington took command of the colonial troops on the Common at Cambridge, outside Boston. To aid him during the transformation of his irregular forces gathered from several colonies into a unified army, a committee was appointed by Congress. It consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, and Thomas Lynch. They visited Washington in October, 1775 and during their meetings, some concern was raised about a flag; evidenced in a letter written by Washington’s secretary, Colonel Thomas Reed[5]. However, there is no proof that the Continental Colors were designed during these meetings as some texts have claimed. What we do know is that on January 1, 1776, the Continental Army became official and that to celebrate, Washington had the Continental Colors hoisted “in compliment to the United Colonies.” The flag was raised on the liberty pole, which formerly flew a red flag, situated on Prospect Hill in nearby Charlestown. Since Washington’s camp was in Cambridge, the flag has often misleadingly been called “the Cambridge flag.” The flag was also occasionally called the Great Union Flag, a name corrupted by later writers to Grand Union.[6]
The British Union[7] appeared in the canton of the Continental Colors. Americans undoubtedly saw this Union of crosses as a sign of their loyalty to the mother country – the Declaration of Independence being half a year away. The thirteen stripes signified the unity of the thirteen colonies in seeking redress for their grievances. The double symbolism made the flag a popular one with the American patriots. This continued until later in the war when it became apparent to all that there was to be ‘no going back’ and that America was set on a course to become its own nation.
There are references in many texts to “union flags” and Continental flags,” in use during the fall of 1775 and, while no exact descriptions of them are known; such flags may well have been the Continental Colors. Washington and others do not indicate that the flag at Prospect Hill was new in design. Certainly during 1776 and 1777, spontaneously or by design, the Continental Colors was hoisted throughout the colonies, both at sea and on land. Its design was unofficial and variations appeared; yet references in the resolves of the Continental Congress and the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety made it clear that the Continental Colors were universally accepted as a national flag.[8]
Stars and Stripes. The Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777 read: “RESOLVED: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation. It did not specify any particular design for the stars. Though adopted, and since has become a symbol of the American Revolution, the collection of stars in the upper left-hand corner, either in circle or grouping, was rarely seen either in battle, on American ships, or at fortifications, and not until the near close of the war.[9] One of the earliest documentations of the Stars and Stripes was flown by Captain John Paul Jones in late 1777. On Feb. 14, 1778, Jones received a nine-gun salute from the French at Quiberon Bay, the highest honor the French government allowed a foreign vessel. The Stars and Stripes was reportedly flying from the mast, making it the first flag to represent the United States in a foreign port, and the first flag to receive recognition as representing the United States as a nation.
Betsy Ross Flag – however scholars agree that this is more myth than fact. 
Francis Hopskinson flag. Congressman from NJ – Speculative 
John Hurbert flag tattered ramains 1775 – considered first stars and stripes. 
Battle of Bennington flag. Legend says Molly Stark made however, cotton of flag indicates it was made around 1812. 
U.S. Ranger Flag of John Paul Jones 
Ehtan Allan’s Green Mtn. Boys flag. However, Seth Warner, later commander, never made mention of a flag. 
Guilford Courthouse flag 
Fort Mercer Flag. Supposedly flown over Delaware fort in 1777, abandoned in November of that year. 
Simcoe Yorktown Flag 
Chester County Militia Brandwine Flag 
Alliance Flag flown overr 36 gun frigate 1781-1783. 
3rd Maryland Reg. Colors at Cowpen Jan. 17, 1781
As to the Stars and Stripes use on land; it was reported that it was flown at the skirmish of Cooch’s Bridge, September 3, 1777, between North Carolina militia and German mercenaries. This is more legend than proven fact and is contested by many scholars. The claim that the stars and stripes were flown over Fort Stanwix during British Lt. Colonel St. Leger’s failed siege, August, 1777, also has its roots in legend. It first appeared from the recollections of early 19th century local Rome, New York scholar Pomeroy Jones, who claimed he spoke to aged veterans of the siege, though documentation was sketchy at best. Primary sources, including Ensign William Colbrath’s journal and second in command, Lt. Colonel Marinus Willett’s accounts, fail to mention the raising of a flag similar to the stars and stripes. They do specifically account the use of the Continental or Great Union flag. One can point to John Trumbull’s painting “The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis” that displays an American Flag with a field of stars in the upper corner – though not circular. Trumbull finished this painting in 1820 which by then, the American flag of Stars and Stripes was flown throughout the world. However, a 26 year-old British Lieutenant Colonel named John Graves Simcoe, in command of the Queen’s Rangers at Yorktown, painted a red and blue strip flag with a grouping of thirteen stars.
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RESOUCES
Colbrath, William. Journal of the most material occurrences preceding the Siege of Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix) with an account of that siege, etc., negative photostat, New York Public Library.
DeBarr, Candice M., Bonkowske, Jack A. Saga of the American Flag: An Illustrated History. 1990: Harbinger House, Inc., Tucson, AZ.
Historical Flags of our Ancestors, “Flags of the American Revolution Era”. On the internet at: http://www.loeser.us/flags/revolution.html
Quaife, Milo M., Weig, Melvin J., and Appleman, Roy E. The History of the United States Flag. 1961: Harper & Row, Philadelphia, PA.
Moss, James A. The Flag of the United States Its History and Symbolism. 1930: The United States Flag Association, Washington DC.
Nation Park Service (NPS) – Siege of Fort Stanwix.
Schuyler, Hamilton. History of the National Flag of the United States of America. 1852: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co., Philadelphia, PA.
Smith, Whitney. The Flag Book of the United States. 1970: William Morrow & Company, Inc., New York, NY.
Willett, Marinas. “Narrative,” Tomlinson Collection, New York Public Library.
ENDNOTES
[1] Moss, pp 15-16.
[2] Smith, pg. 47.
[3] Ibid, pp 45-46.
[4] Ibid. pg. 48
[5] Colonel Reed wrote a letter to Colonel Glover on October 20, 1775, about a marine flag to be flown over the floating batteries playing havoc with British shipping in Boston harbor. In it he mentions: “What do you think of a flag with a white ground, a tree in the middle, the motto “Appeal to Heaven?”
[6] Ibid. pp 49-50.
[7] The British Union is the true name of what we call the Union Jack. Jack refers to the British navy (sailors were called ‘Jacks’, and the Union Jack only flew from British ships. The union was carried by the infantry in battle and flown over forts and other government buildings.
[8] Smith, pp 50.
[9] There are claims of a flag carried by North Carolina militia at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, that is similar to the ‘stars and stripes’. Noted flag authority R. C. Ballard Thurston believed that this is the only such flag carried by troops during the war. It does not follow the color scheme defined in the Flag Resolution in that it has seven blue and six red stripes and thirteen blue stars on a white union. That the Stars and Stripes flew at Yorktown is attested by a contemporary watercolor by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe of the Queen’s Rangers. It resembles the Guilford flag in having red and blue stripes and blue union with “a pattern figures. marks or, perhaps, stars in what seems to be a darker shade of blue.