{"id":1935,"date":"2015-01-01T10:21:06","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T15:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1935"},"modified":"2024-06-28T14:07:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T18:07:07","slug":"george-washington-flag-vexations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/","title":{"rendered":"George Washington and flag vexations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drawing<\/a>George Washington, it is said, never told a lie. But some fibs have been told about him, and one of them might involve an early American flag<\/a> that was hoisted \u2013 or was it? \u2013 239 years ago on the first day of the year.<\/p>\n

On January 1, 1776, Washington lifted a flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts. Author David McCullough recounts the scene in his book, \u201c1776,\u201d writing, \u201cWith the crash of a 13-gun salute, [Washington] raised a new flag in honor of the birthday of the new army,\u201d called the Continental Army.<\/p>\n

\"Grand<\/a>The flag consisted of 13 stripes of alternating white and red. Where the American flag now has a field of stars, the British Union Jack was shown. (Later, the flag was dubbed the Grand Union flag<\/a>, a term not used until the mid-19th century.)<\/p>\n

While some scholars doubt the veracity of the story, one thing is for sure. During the American Revolution<\/a>, Washington was constantly dealing with flags. Often, however, they were plain white truce flags, used to allow persons to cross boundaries and not be fired on by the opposing sides.<\/p>\n

In many letters written during the conflict, the Father of Our Country was vexed with issues involving such flags. On January 7, 1779, for example, he complained about the \u201ctoo frequent\u201d use of the white flags by boats from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.<\/p>\n

In a letter, he \u201cpointed out the inconveniences of peoples coming almost daily with permissions from them to go cross rivers into New York.\u201d Each passage necessitated a truce flag and an officer to accompany it. Washington\u2019s solution was to allow passage only on the first of the month. Anyone who wanted to travel at another time, he said, would have to wait.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An 1885 illustration shows early American flags, including the Grand Union flag to the left of the eagle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That same summer, encamped at West Point, the general had to mediate a dispute over white flags. One of his subordinates, a German colonel named Wurmb, objected to another officer using \u201ca white handkerchief tied to a little stick\u201d as a truce flag.<\/p>\n

\"white-flag\"<\/a>Washington, who had more significant things to deal with, ordered a third officer to \u201creprobate so gross a violation of a flag\u201d and \u201ctake effectual measures to discountenance the indecent irregularity of\u2026Wurmb\u2019s behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

To the future first president, the German\u2019s actions needed correcting so that the tradition of a white flag would remain sacred \u2013 even when that flag was a hankie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Washington, it is said, never told a lie. But some fibs have been told about him, and one of them might involve an early American flag that was hoisted \u2013 or was it? \u2013 239 years ago on the first day of the year. On January 1, 1776, Washington lifted a flag at his… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,47,254,253,252],"class_list":["post-1935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-george-washington","tag-grand-union-flag","tag-truce-flag","tag-white-flag"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge Washington and flag vexations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George Washington and flag vexations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-01T15:21:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-28T18:07:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"369\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/\",\"name\":\"George Washington and flag vexations\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-01T15:21:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-28T18:07:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg\",\"width\":369,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Drawing of Grand Union flag\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"George Washington and flag vexations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George Washington and flag vexations","description":"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George Washington and flag vexations","og_description":"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/","og_site_name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","article_published_time":"2015-01-01T15:21:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-28T18:07:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":369,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Breig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Breig","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/","name":"George Washington and flag vexations","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-01T15:21:06+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-28T18:07:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a"},"description":"On January 1, 1776, George Washington lifted the Grand Union Flag at his headquarters, then near Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to David McCullough.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Drawing-of-Grand-Union-flag.jpg","width":369,"height":500,"caption":"Drawing of Grand Union flag"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/george-washington-flag-vexations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George Washington and flag vexations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/","name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a","name":"James Breig","description":"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\" and co-author of \"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1935"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5336,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions\/5336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}