America's First Flag: The Continental Union

As we rapidly approach the 250th anniversary of our country’s founding, it’s interesting to note that its first flag was not the “Old Glory” we know today. In fact, it was the Continental Union Flag, which still bore the mark of England—not an array of stars—in its field. 

While the flag’s first appearance was at a ship commissioning in Philadelphia in December of 1775, the first time it flew in anger was in Somerville, Massachusetts the very next month. It was during the British siege of Boston that Somerville’s Prospect Hill offered a strategic view of the city and the movements of the Redcoats on land and in the harbor.

After the victorious American battles at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, weary British troops retreated back to Boston and passed near Prospect Hill. There, a skirmish broke out. A 65-year-old Somerville patriot (James Miller) famously stood his ground against the British—telling his retreating comrades, “I am too old to run”. He was shot thirteen times and died at the base of Prospect Hill. 

And, on January 1, 1776, this new Continental Union Flag flew atop the American citadel on Somerville's Prospect Hill for the first time.