Alfred first displayed the Continental Navy ensign in December 1775.
The ship was the flagship of the Continental Navy, and Lieutenant John Paul Jones reportedly raised the ensign aboard Alfred on December 3, 1775, on the Delaware River. The flag featured thirteen red-and-white stripes with the British Union Flag in the canton, representing the thirteen colonies while still reflecting the colonies’ constitutional ties and wartime origins.
This design is often called the Grand Union Flag or Continental Colours. It was not the same as the later Stars and Stripes, which replaced the Union canton with a field of stars in 1777. The first flag’s stripes already anticipated the enduring visual language of the United States flag.
Alfred was purchased for naval service in 1775 and served as John Paul Jones’s flagship during early Continental Navy operations. The ship should not be confused with Bonhomme Richard, the famous vessel Jones commanded later in the war, or USS Constitution, launched in 1797.