Colonel Gadsden, one of the marine committee, presented to Congress, on the 8th of February, 1776, “an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander-in-chief of the American navy; being a yellow flag with a representation of a rattlesnake coiled for attack.”
WASHINGTON LIFE GUARD FLAG.
There is probably no more interesting revolutionary flag than this. The Washington Life Guard was organized in 1776, soon after the siege of Boston, while the American army was encamped near New York.
It was said to have been in the museum at Alexandria, Va., which was burned soon after the war of the rebellion, and nearly everything lost. It was of white silk with the design painted on it.
The uniform of the guard was as follows: blue coat with white facings, white waistcoat and breeches, with blue half gaiters, a cocked hat and white plume.
THE GRAND UNION FLAG.
These were the colors selected by Franklin, Harrison and Lynch, and unfurled by Washington under the Charter Oak, January 2, 1776, and hereafter described.
The flag of the Richmond Rifles follows with the one used at Moultrie.
The latter was of blue with white crescent in the dexter corner and was used by Colonel Moultrie, September 13, 1775, when he received orders from the Council of Safety for taking Fort Johnson on James Island, South Carolina.