The Bent Page

Here is the original “Navy Jack,” that is the flag flown aboard ships of the US Navy even before there was, officially, a United States of America.

Some people confuse this flag with the Gadsden Flag, which is the yellow one bearing the coiled rattlesnake and the same motto. The rattlesnake was a popular symbol leading up to the American Revolution. Nonetheless, the Navy Jack was instituted by Commodore Esek Hopkins who was assembling the first ships of the Continental Navy in Philadelphia, on the Delaware River. He gave instructions for the design of the flag and it soon appeared on those vessels.

In the present day, I find this flag an enduring symbol of the times to come.