Old Glory Isn’t the Only Story: Rediscovering America’s Civil Standard
The Forgotten Flag: Before Old Glory, there was a flag for peace — and a nation ready to claim it.
If you haven’t heard it yet this Independence Day, just wait. “Nothing of importance happened today,” wrote King George III. Of course, this is a fun fiction, as King George III did not keep a diary. But it illustrates the fascinating disconnect between the elites and We The People. (1)
Another fiction will line the parade routes of small and large town alike today. As these United States celebrate Independence Day, the American Flag — Old Glory — will proudly fly on the rooftops of government buildings and in front of homes all across the land. Yet this, too, has a story.
The American Flag
Have you ever seen the 1851 painting by Emanuel Leutze, "Washington Crossing the Delaware"? In it, George Washington is depicted crossing the Delaware River in the dead of night, with the Stars and Stripes standing tall in his boat, lit by a gleaming moon.
And that flag was delivered from the skilled hands of Betsy Ross. George Washington, himself, asked Betsy Ross to create the flag from general ideas he had penned. But this, too, is a fiction. Historians have failed to find any account of her involvement with the creation of the flag, which was formally adopted on June 14, 1777 — almost 6 months after Washington crossed the Delaware. (2)
View a discussion of Washington’s crossing here: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/washingtons-crossing
This was America at war. And those Stars and Stripes led the military in skirmishes, battles, and wars. Old Glory adorned battleships and miliary installations. Military commanders ordered the wartime flag to be flown on the high seas and in home ports to identify military vessels and military command. (3)
The third Flag Act, adopted in 1818, codified the wartime flag we all know — with 13 horizontal stripes and the number of stars for the member states in the Union. (4)
Soldiers fighting in the Civil War — on the Union or the Confederate side — probably saw for the first time the American wartime flag. Images of the flag from battles big and small would have stayed with them in memory. And those memories went home with the soldiers to big and small towns alike, spreading the idea and image of a national flag.
In 1947 — almost 100 years later — we have the Act of July 30, 1947, which defines the characteristics, dimensions, and colors of the American Flag. We have 13 horizontal stripes — 7 red and 6 white — with 48 white stars on a blue background to represent the States in the Union. (5)
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10834 that replaced previous iterations of the American Flag with what is commonly known as Old Glory. This is the latest action taken, which cements in the minds of the public that the Stars and Stripes is the National Flag of the United States. No other law or order has superseded Executive Order 10834, affirming 4 USC §1 of the US Code, making the Stars and Stripes — with 50 stars to represent our 50 states — the official flag of the Nation. (6)
Where’s The Fiction?
Betsy Ross not withstanding, there’s a very real belief that Old Glory is the only flag of this Constitutional Republic.
But what if that wasn’t true? What if the other fiction we’ve been taught is that there is only one flag — a wartime flag — for the United States of America?
The Roots of Freedom
Before the Stars and Stripes, we had the Stars and Bars.
As murmurings of independence from Britain began, the colonists created a flag to signal their allegiance to new ideas and to independence. When colonial leaders met in assembly to talk about their problems with the British government, they flew a flag to signal the meeting. This flag had 9 vertical bars — 5 red and 4 white — to represent the 9 colonies seeking to break ties from the Crown. Eventually, the flag included 13 vertical bars to represent all the colonies. (7)
Once the colonies broke free from Britain, they established the Constitutional government. And what every young government need is… well, money. In 1790, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton commissioned a fleet of “Revenue Marines” to curb smuggling and exact customs fees on imports. (7)
Though the fleet was not aligned with the military, the Revenue Marines needed an ensign (a flag) to distinguish them from commercial vessels. An act of Congress in 1799 created the US Revenue Cutter Service, as well as the flag they flew under. (8)
They did not fly the wartime flag. Instead, to distinguish the Revenue Cutters from commercial vessels of the time, they flew a flag signaling their affiliation with the civilian fleet of the Treasury Department. And that flag eventually became the Civil Peace Flag. (9)
This is the earliest official civilian flag of what we now call the Stars and Bars or Civil Peacetime Flag.
What’s Wrong With Two?
Is there a problem with a Civilian Flag of the United States? Ask yourself if you align with the wartime government or the peacetime civilians. It really is that simple.
One way to know if you’re on the right track is to see who’s against you. Just as the “Center for Digital Hate” came out with its disingenuous Disinformation Dozen during the plandemic, so, too, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has come out against the citizens who choose to fly the Civil Peace Flag. They state: “It is adapted from an obscure version of the American flag from the early 1800s.” Even ignoring its earliest use by the colonists, the civilian peacetime flag came into being in 1799.
Through profiling and defaming, the ADL claims — with no evidence or discussion — that sovereign citizens who chose the Stars and Bars as their Civilian Flag of the US are extremists. The comment shows a lack of research and respect, which is classic behavior for those blind to the rich and complex history of these United States — and those who live here.
It’s yet another fiction.
After all, the colonists fought for independence. Share your freedom this Independence Day, and fly the Civil Flag of Peace. The choice is yours.
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