The Liberty Flags Of Our Fathers

Am doing a series of articles on the liberty flags of our fathers, those flags that were symbols of our God-given liberty, flags we all remember and revere. The fact that many of these flags are under virulent assault in our day should tell us that our history and culture as well as our liberty are also under assault. We had better wake up and realize this, lest we end up forfeiting, through our complacency, the legacy God has bequeathed to us, an action, or lack thereof, for which we shall be judged.

What better place to start than with the Betsy Ross Flag? This is, after all, the flag that professional America hater Colin Kaepernick, formerly of the National Football League, loves to hate. That fact in itself should commend it to us. Here is a guy who can't even bring himself to stand for the National Anthem or the flag, and our kids are supposed to emulate him? Please give me a break!

Back in July, 2019, I read an article on www.newsweek.com about Comrade Kaepernick's reaction to a new tennis shoe that NIKE was going to put out with the Betsy Ross Flag displayed on the shoes. This incensed Kaepernick no end and he said he had a problem because the flag was "...offensive due to its connection to the United States slavery era." This according to the Wall Street Journal. If this is accurate, then I suppose that every American symbol before the slaves were emancipated in late 1865 is a problem for Kaepernick and others of his ilk. So let's get rid of all the  pictures of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson because, after all, they were slave owners. Do you begin to see how ludicrous this sort of specious reasoning is? In other words, everything and everyone in America was evil before December of 1865, which includes Abraham Lincoln, because the slaves were not really freed until after he had been dead for several months.

In doing research on our flags, you'd be surprised how many "historians" claim almost no authenticity for any of them. The Newsweek article was typical of this. It said: "While general perception has held Ross was solely responsible for designing the flag, some scholars have suggested she was just one of many seamstresses in Pennsylvania at the time that took part in the project." What scholars? Newsweek doesn't reveal this "fact."

Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscom in January of 1752 to a Quaker family. She was apprenticed to an upholsterer when she was 17,and sometime thereafter, she met John Ross, also an apprentice and an Anglican, with whom she fell in love. As a Quaker she couldn't marry outside her faith and so was expelled from her local Quaker meeting. But, on her own, she and her husband opened an upholstery business.

John passed away in 1776 due to an accident and so Betsy continued the upholstery business on her own. She made flags for Pennsylvania and the American Revolution. According to one source, "..she was paid 14 pounds in 1777 for making 'ship colours for the Pennsylvania State Navy Board."

Betsy remarried twice and was widowed both times. She lived to be 84 years old, but the story about the first American flag she made wasn't made public until almost 50 years after she died. William Canby was Betsy's grandson and he  first told the story of  the Betsy Ross Flag to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1870. According to William, Betsy made the first American flag "...in the spring of 1776 following a visit from General George Washington , Robert Morris, and  her husband's uncle, Colonel George Ross. During the visit, the men allegedly showed Betsy a sketch of a flag containing thirteen red and white stripes and 6-pointed white stars, and asked if she could make it. Betsy accepted the offer, but suggested changing the 6-pointed stars to easier 5-pointed stars and arranging them in a circle--the very same design that was officially adopted by Congress one year later on June 14, 1777." This account was supported by affidavits from Betsy's daughter, niece and granddaughter, and thus the  "story of the Betsy Ross Flag became forever stitched into the fabric of American history."

This is the flag you saw Mel Gibson carry in the movie The Patriot and it is a beautiful flag, symbolic of our liberty--which is why those on the left seem to hate it so much.