Betsy Ross Flags
Shop for Betsy Ross Flags
- Nyl-Glo Nylon
- Made in America with large, densely embroidered stars and deep, rich colors.
- Bulldog Cotton
- Traditional heavy-weight Bulldog cotton will bring out the purist in you.
- Annin Vintage Cotton
- Subtly dyed cotton and appliqued stars create an authentic look.
- Valley Forge Heritage Cotton
- Dramatic tea-stained cotton and embroidered stars grab attention.
- Betsy Ross Build-a-Set
- Choose from 4 flags and create a custom flag set your neighbors will admire.
About Our Betsy Ross Flags
Our Betsy Ross flags represent one of the most notable chapters in the narrative of our national heritage and so do the companies that make them for us. Since the nineteenth century, both Annin & Co. and Valley Forge Flag Co. have been making the flags that shared in America's unfolding history. Today, the two companies form the backbone of the American flag industry, having earned the admiration and trust of customers at every level of government, military and the private sector.
Was Betsy Ross Really the Maker of the First American Flag?
Did Betsy Ross really make the first official American flag? The question is still debated today, more than 230 years after the Continental Congress voted to adopt the 13-star flag on June 14, 1777.
As the legend goes, Ross was visited at her home one warm May day in 1776 by three well known gentlemen with an unusual request—sew a new flag for what was hoped would become a new nation. They were General George Washington, Colonel George Ross and Robert Morris.
That Betsy Ross would be visited by three such men of distinction is not at all surprising since she knew at least two of them well. She was related to George Ross by marriage and had enjoyed a friendship with George and Martha Washington for some time.
That they chose her is also no surprise since she was perhaps the best known seamstress and upholsterer in the entire city of Philadelphia. In fact, according to the story, she was so adept with a pair of scissors that when Washington suggested that the stars be six-pointed, she folded a small piece of fabric and showed her guests how with one snip of the scissors, a five pointed star was created.
The real bone of contention lies in the fact that the story was largely unknown for almost 100 years. It wasn't until a grandson of Betsy Ross, William Canby, spoke at a meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1870, regaling attendees with the story of his grandmother's extraordinary accomplishment, that the news broke to the general public.
Skeptics often point to the fact that there exists no known written record from the Revolutionary period verifying Betsy Ross as the maker of that original flag. But students of history know there are many historic events we embrace without reservation that were second, third or fourth hand accounts (or worse) written by individuals who were not witnesses to the event. That's the nature of history.
However, there are a few facts that support the claim of William Canby. One is the written testimony of Rachel Fletcher, one of Betsy Ross' own daughters, who grew up hearing the story from her own mother. Fletcher recounts the story in great detail.
Another, equally compelling piece of evidence is a painting by Ellie Wheeler depicting Washington, Ross and Morris in a room with Betsy Ross and the finished flag. The painting is dated 1851 and its authenticity has been verified. Many critics of the Betsy Ross story believe that Canby fabricated the story for his own glorification in 1870, but the Wheeler painting seems to put that criticism to rest.
The study of history is often not an exact science and that certainly seems to be the case here, but it's safe to say that the weight of what little evidence there is tilts the scales towards the truth of the Betsy Ross story.
