This flag was adopted June 14, 1777 (Flag Day).

The Continental Congress on this day resolved,

"That the flag of the United States be thirteen

stripes alternating red and white; that the

Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field,

representing a new constellation". It is unknown

who actually designed this flag. There is a slight

possibility that John Paul Jones did. The

Congress did not specify an arrangement for

the stars in the canton, as a result there are

many variations in the flags that followed

until 1912.

First Navy Jack or "Continental Navy Jack"

This flag is believed to have flown aboard the

Continental Fleet's flagship Alfred, in January,

1776. This flag or one of it's variations was

used by American ships throughout the Revolution.

The United States Navy originated as the

Continental Navy, established early in the

American Revolution by the Continental

Congress by a resolution of 13 October 1775.

There is a widespread belief that ships of the

Continental Navy flew a jack consisting of

alternating red and white stripes, having the

image of a rattlesnake stretched out across it,

with the motto "Don't Tread on Me." That

belief,however, rests on no firm base

of historical evidence.

It is well documented that the rattlesnake and

the motto "Don't Tread on Me" were used

together on several flags during the War of

Independence. The only question in doubt is

whether the Continental Navy actually used

a red and white striped flag with a rattlesnake

and the motto "Don't Tread on Me" as its jack.

The evidence is inconclusive. There is reason to

believe that the Continental Navy jack was

simply a red and white striped flag with no

other adornment.

The historical evidence makes it impossible to

say for certain whether the Continental Navy

used the striped rattlesnake flag as its jack.

At the same time, the evidence does suggest

strong connections between the symbol of the

rattlesnake with the motto "Don't Tread on Me"

and the United States' earliest naval traditions.

Gadsden

This flag was first used by Commodore Esek

Hopkins, the first Commander in Chief of the

New Continental Fleet. When his ships put

to sea for the first time in February, 1776, flags

with the symbol of the rattlesnake were very

popular in Rhode Island at this time. Colonel

Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina copied

this flag and presented it to the Continental

Congress.

In early 1776 Commodore Esek Hopkins,

the first and only commander in chief of the

Continental Navy fleet, used a personal standard

designed by Christopher Gadsden of South

Carolina. This flag consisted of a yellow field with

a coiled snake and the motto "Don't Tread on Me."

There is no doubt as to the authenticity of

Hopkins's personal standard, usually referred to

as "the Gadsden flag."

The only written description of the Continental Navy

jack contemporary with the American Revolution

appears in Commodore Hopkins's "Signals for the

American Fleet," January 1776, where it is described

as "the strip'd jack." No document says that the jack

had a rattlesnake or motto on it. Elsewhere, Hopkins

mentions using a "striped flag" as a signal. Since

American merchant ships often displayed a simple red

and white striped flag, there is a good chance that the

striped jack to which Hopkins refers was the plain,

striped flag used by American merchant ships.