flag post

Thanks to a clue from rafqa i found a lead on some other candidates for the oldest surviving U. S. Flag. Three were recently sold in auction from the decendants of a British officer who had captured the battle flags in the 1770's.

The oldest dates between December, 1776 and July 1778:

http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?sale_number=N08228&live_lot_id=1

This one slightly later:


That still leaves the Chester Co. Pa. as the oldest confirmed flag; but not by much; if you average the date out for the above flag you come up with almost the same date, Sept. 1777.

Still i think it remarkable, the so called, slow, communications of the 18th century; yet everyone seemed to know how our flag was supposed to look.

That's it, until i can find something concrete. As far as i know right now, the oldest confirmed U.S. flag is the "Star Spangled Banner" of 1813.