The Continental Union Flag Precedent
- When
- December 3, 1775 – June 14, 1777
- Where
- Continental Navy and Army usage
Before the 1777 resolution, the Continental Union Flag served as the national flag from 1775 to 1777.
The first official flag resembling the "Stars and Stripes" was the Continental Navy ensign, often called the Continental Union Flag, Continental Colours, Cambridge Flag, or Grand Union Flag, used from 1775 to 1777. It first appeared on December 3, 1775, when Lieutenant John Paul Jones flew it aboard Captain Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred on the Delaware River. Washington raised it in a morale ceremony for the Continental Army on New Year's Day 1776, and it remained the national flag until June 14, 1777.
Sources
- Flag of the United States Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.