I have never really been a "flag-waving patriot", though I'm a bigger defender of the ol'USA than alot of other people I know who call me a traitor every now and then. My mother flies the Stars & Stripes, but the only flags I have ever flown over my house were the flag of the Great Free State of Texas, and below that, the ensign of the Confederacy. I have very unpopular thoughts about the American Revolution, but I was born, technically, in the United States of America (Texas is like a whole other country), and although I don't think we were formed as a "perfect nation", just because the founders might not have been our ideal, or at least mine, we should still try to make America into the best nation we can.

Although it may surprise alot of folks, the very first American flag was actually the British Red Ensign. This version of the flag was flown by British merchant ships since the 1707 Act of Union, thus it was a common flag in America, though the first flag to actually fly over what became the United States was probably the Cross of St George. Even after revolutionary sentiment began to grow, many colonists still flew the Red Ensign, sometimes in New England defaced with a pine tree.

The first flag used by the revolutionary forces as a national flag was the British Red Ensign defaced with white stripes. Called the "Grand Union" flag or the "Continental Colors" it was raised on January 2, 1776 and was the first American flag to fly over a conquered enemy base and the first to be saluted at sea. The 13 stripes were to represent the 13 colonies and their demands in the war, while the "King's Colours" were to represent their continued ties with Britain and the British Crown.

Some of My Ideas for U.S. Flags

Obviously, this is simply an updated version of the Grand Union Flag. Should the U.S. ever come around to joining the rest of the English-speaking world, or if the Anglo-Americans who built this country get tired of being kicked around by all the "newcomers" or for any other reason wish to join the Commonwealth of Nations, this might be an acceptable flag version, or at least an additional "official" flag to use alongside the current one. The thirteen stripes symbolize the original colonies that made up the United States and show our independent status (since some rather slow people seem to be confused on that whenever the Union Jack appears) while the Union Jack shows the ties with Britain and gives recognition to the ancestral homeland and the British Crown.

The American Red Ensign as I could imagine it. Obviously, this would be more of a traditional style for former colonies of Great Britain, most of which adopted as their national flag a British red or blue ensign defaced with their national arms. While still not entirely within this mold, this is the best I could come up with. As it was the Red Ensign which was the first unofficial American flag, I thought it best to use that rather than the Blue Ensign (such as used by Australia and New Zealand) and the red seems to be the more common in the Americas. To represent the United States is the traditional American eagle, with the shield, olive branches, arrows and 13 stars to symbolize the 13 original colonies. This would be an American flag I wouldn't mind flying.

Continue to U.S. Religious flag designs.....