What was the first national flag used by the United States during the Revolution?

The Grand Union Flag was the first national flag used by the United States during the Revolution.

Also called the Continental Union Flag, it combined thirteen red-and-white horizontal stripes with the British Union Flag in the canton. The stripes represented the united colonies, while the canton reflected the colonies’ continuing connection to Britain at that stage of the conflict.

The flag first appeared on December 3, 1775, when it was raised aboard USS Alfred on the Delaware River near Philadelphia. It served as the de facto national flag until Congress adopted the thirteen-star Stars and Stripes on June 14, 1777.

The Grand Union Flag is sometimes incorrectly called the Betsy Ross flag. The Betsy Ross story concerns a thirteen-star design and is not the name of this earlier banner. The term “Grand Union Flag” itself became common only in the nineteenth century.