Pennsylvania Associators

Long known as the "Monmouth Flag," this yellow banner entered the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association in New Jersey in 1943. Marguerite Potter Bixler, a descendant of Captain William Wilson of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, donated it. According to Bixler's family history, Wilson captured this flag from the British at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. While Captain Wilson participated in the battle, the flag lacks several key features of British regimental flags. Further research into Bixler's Revolutionary War ancestors suggests that the flag is more likely connected to the Pennsylvania Associators, a voluntary militia.  

Unlike the other colonies, Pennsylvania did not require men to serve in a colonial militia for local defense. The pacifist beliefs of the colony’s Quaker-controlled government and its large Quaker population influenced this decision. But in 1747, Benjamin Franklin suggested that the citizens of Pennsylvania form a military “association” to defend Philadelphia in case of attacks by American Indians and the French. Pennsylvanians revived the Association in 1755 during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and then re-formed it on a county basis by 1775 in response to the Revolutionary War. 

James Potter, one of Marguerite Potter Bixler’s ancestors, served as an officer in the Northumberland County Associators in 1775 and 1776. Before the Declaration of Independence, at a time when the colonists were fighting to restore their rights as subjects of King George III, the Associators' regimental colors reflected their continued loyalty to Great Britain. That is why this flag has the British union in its canton, or upper corner.    

Interestingly, this flag features a red, floral-pattern silk damask fabric in the British union. Another flag connected to the Pennsylvania Associators, referred to as the “Fort Bedford Flag”, is made from the same type of fabric. Silk damask was typically used for furniture upholstery, window curtains, and clothing. The presence of damask in the two flags suggests that they might have been made by an upholsterer or tailor. Records show that some of the Associators’ flags were made in Philadelphia at the beginning of the war where many such craftspeople worked.