Commander in Chief

According to the traditions of the Washington family, General Washington used this silk standard to mark his headquarters and his presence on the battlefield. Its rough and uneven stitching, as well as the various shapes of its stars, suggest its possibly hasty creation. It was likely made in about 1777 after the Continental Congress adopted the design of the flag of the United States which featured a “new constellation” of 13 stars on a blue field.   

George Washington's ability to be seen by his troops in battle through the smoke from muskets and cannons could rapidly change the fortunes of the Continental Army, as well as the American Revolution. At the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 he rallied retreating elements of his army, while at Yorktown in 1781 he fired the first American cannon of the successful allied siege. This standard could have witnessed those moments. Washington may have also used this standard to identify his headquarters tent, the same tent on display here at the Museum of the American Revolution.    

In the early 1900s, descendants of George Washington’s sister, Elizabeth “Betty” Washington Lewis, donated this flag to the Valley Forge Historical Society. Two of Lewis’s sons served as private secretaries for General Washington, and a third served as an officer in Washington’s “Life Guard” during the Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge Historical Society is the predecessor organization of the Museum of the American Revolution.