Authenticity of the Flag Set

[FiremanBob]

Our shoot boss graciously presented the hosting club in Charlottesville last Sunday with a full set of eleven flags, as it was our first AS clinic at the club. We (the club) are going to display the flags in a rotation of one per month, prominently on a wall in the meeting room of the main clubhouse, with a short explanation of each flag on a sign below it. And, surprise, the BOD appointed me as the caretaker of the flags and writer of the signs.

I researched each flag, using http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/american-revolution-flags.html and other sources. I have learned that some of the flags in our set are not authentic Revolutionary War designs. They are the Bennington, Bunker Hill, and Navy Jack flags. While these are great flags, they seem to be 19th-century inventions.

Also the Moultrie flag we have is the wrong version. The authentic Moultrie flag has the word "LIBERTY" embroidered inside the crescent moon. The one we have was created after the War and is the civic flag of the town of Liberty, SC.

Since we do such a great job of debunking the myth and telling the real story of 4/19/75, it seems that we might use a little of the same discipline in choosing the flag set. We should use the correct Moultrie flag. http://flags.nava.org/revolution.html

I also suggest replacing the three anachronistic flags with five others that are authentically from the Revolution, which would bring the total set to 13 flags (to match the 13 states):

Bedford Flag: considered the earliest flag in America, said to be carried at the Battle of Concord.

Sons of Liberty Flag: dates to around 1765, used by the the Boston SoL to call the townspeople together, and seems to be a source for the official US flag in 1776.

Green Mountain Boys Flag: Official flag of the New Hampshire militia under Ethan Allen, actually used at Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Bennington.

Washington's Commander-in-Chief Flag: just the stars on a blue field (six-pointed as GW favored), flown wherever GW made his HQ.

Serapis flag: made for CPT John Paul Jones after he brought the captured British ship Serapis into a Dutch port. Said to be designed by Ben Franklin and used to document to Dutch authorities that Jones was not a pirate.

As an alternative to the Serapis flag which was never actually flown (though it is a great story), either the "Virginia for Constitutional Liberty" flag which dates to 1775, or the Schenectady Liberty flag of 1771, would work well.

What do y'all think?

[slim]

I support the idea of having "authentic" flags but the truth is, nobody knows anyway. Not saying we shouldn't fix that problem but fixing it is going to come down to a matter of budget and logistics.

How many anachronistic flags do we have left in stock?

Can we get the period-correct flags cheaper?

Does anyone present their flags anyway?

Do we really need to add replacement flags instead of just cutting the "wrong" ones?


I'll be honest, I don't like displaying the flags at Appleseed events. There are some venues where it works well (when it's possible to hang them somewhere AWAY from the firing line and talk about them during a break) but all too often I see them displayed right along the firing line and limiting the SB and LB's view of the overall event.

Plus, they're "one more thing" to spray out of that fire hose. We hit the shooters with so much information; doing a presentation on the flags and giving them "one more thing" to remember is a bit much. (And it's "one more thing" for the SB to do!)

That being said, many attendees love seeing the flags and say they set the tone for the weekend.

What I've started doing now is similar to your club's idea. I've selected one of them to fly under the US Flag so there's still an "old flag" up the pole and something for us to talk about on a short break but it's not too busy as to create a diversion and/or take up too much space. Flags are absolutely venue-specific. Sometimes they work well. Other times it's a giant pain in the backside.

I'll always be a fan of more history... but not so much a fan of "more history at each event."