Grand Union Flag

(1775 - 1777)

Although it is not exactly clear who created it and when, a new colonial flag was raised on January 1, 1776, at the camp of the Continental Army near Boston. Known as the Grand Union flag, Continental Union flag, or simply the Union flag, this banner featured the British Union Jack as a canton on a field of 13 red and white stripes representing the 13 colonies. The symbolism apparently carried a double message--loyalty to Great Britain but unity of the American colonies.

In November 1775, the Continental Congress voted funds for a fleet of four ships to protect the southern colonies. One of the ships is known to have flown the Grand Union flag. It is likely that during the early years of the Revolution, American ships flying this flag docked at Savannah or sailed in the coastal waters off Georgia's mainland.

Computer generated flag image and text from Edwin L. Jackson, Flags That Have Flown Over Georgia (Atlanta: Secretary of State, 1995). © Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

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