Pennsylvania Militia

This is the earliest surviving flag bearing the stars and stripes representing the new United States of America.  

Known today as the “Brandywine Flag,” this red silk banner is said to have witnessed the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. Pennsylvania, having recently formed its own state militia, called out its citizens to support the Continental Army’s defense of the state from a British invasion in the late summer of 1777. Robert Wilson, an officer in the Chester County Militia, and the men he commanded served under this flag during the fight to defend Pennsylvania. The resulting Battle of Brandywine raged only a few miles from the homes of Wilson and his fellow Chester County militiamen. The British victory that day led to the British capture of Philadelphia.

Earlier that year, on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed a resolution adopting a design for a national flag for the United States. The flag was to be composed of 13 alternating red and white stripes representing the states and 13 white stars on a blue field representing a “new constellation.” Likely made in Philadelphia that same summer, the flag that the Chester County Militia carried incorporates the new design for the flag of the United States using white silk in its upper corner.

Robert Wilson’s family retained possession of this flag until 1923 when they donated it to the museum at Independence Hall. It is now owned by the National Park Service.