Aside from the Grand Union Flag, which doesn’t really count because of its incorporation of Great Britain into the canton, you could say this is our original “pride flag.”

Francis Hopkinson, one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, is recognized in the journals of the Continental Congress as the primary designer of the first ensign representing the United States, which preceded the more famous banner credited, perhaps apocryphally, to Betsy Ross.

It was flown for the first time in 1777 during the siege of Fort Stanwix in present-day Rome, New York — an American victory secured, ironically, thanks to reinforcements led by Major General Benedict Arnold.