{"id":2296,"date":"2015-06-11T08:21:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T12:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2296"},"modified":"2024-10-02T12:53:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T16:53:49","slug":"waving-bunker-hill-flag-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/waving-bunker-hill-flag-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Waving Bunker Hill flag \u2013 if there was one"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"British<\/a>
British forces try to take Bunker Hill in this 1909 painting. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 14 is Flag Day and June 17 marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, one of America\u2019s early steps toward independence from Great Britain. So this is an appropriate time to link the two.<\/p>\n

Or maybe not. Some scholars think that the American forces had no flag to wave on that day in Massachusetts. But that hasn\u2019t restrained artists from adding banners anyway. After all, flags always make for better images.<\/p>\n

\"Bunker<\/a>
Bunker Hill flag (blue version)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also complicating the Bunker Hill flag<\/a> question is that the most prominent American banner associated with the conflict comes in two different hues: red and blue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>In 1875, when the Bay State marked the centennial of the fight, there were definitely flags on hand, including the Palmetto flag of South Carolina<\/a>. As a gesture of unity ten years after the end of the Civil War, South Carolinians asked for and received permission to show their flag at the 100th anniversary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bunker<\/a>
Bunker Hill Flag (red version)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other flags and decorations also waved, according to news reports from 1875. \u201cMany of the private displays were very elaborate and elegant,\u201d The Boston Journal reported. \u201cThe national colors of red, white and blue were so profusely exhibited\u2026as to present to the eye pictures of rare beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An 1876 calendar shows flags flying on Bunker Hill. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for public buildings, the Journal noted that the State House in Boston was \u201cquite tastefully decorated\u201d with \u201cAmerican and other national colors\u2026while \u2018glories\u2019 of national flags\u201d waved below. That centennial was a flag day for sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the putative Bunker Hill flag, the upper-left corner of the flag shows an unusual decoration: a pine tree, representative of those found throughout New England. The main part of the banner, however, is debated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One skeptic has written that the flag \u201cwith the blue field was an error made by a person coloring flag charts\u2026.The flag\u2026was correctly printed with heraldic hatching to indicate a red field, but it was colored blue by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A painting by John Trumbull shows a pine-tree flag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make matters even more complicated, he said that \u201cthe North American Vexillological Association\u2026concluded that the Americans probably didn\u2019t carry any flag at Bunker Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Besides that, the Red Coats won the battle that day. Nevertheless, Americans celebrate the day because the upstart patriots held their own against the mightiest army in the world.<\/p>\n

Whatever the historical facts of the flag are, Bunker Hill\u2019s meaning and the importance of flags as rallying points are unquestioned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 14 is Flag Day and June 17 marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, one of America\u2019s early steps toward independence from Great Britain. So this is an appropriate time to link the two. Or maybe not. Some scholars think that the American forces had no flag to wave… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[63,294,43,3],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-battle-flag","tag-bunker-hill-flag","tag-civil-war","tag-history"],"yoast_head":"\nWaving Bunker Hill flag \u2013 if there was one<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some scholars think that the American forces had no flag to wave on that day. 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