Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Understanding Regimental Flag Design

2. Hornet’s Nest Flag

3. Second New Hampshire Regiment Flag

4. Battle of White Plains Flag

5. Pulaski Legion Banner

6. Bucks of America Flag

7. Commander-in-Chief’s Guard Flag

8. Trumbull American Flag

9. Powder Horns

10. Flag of the United States of America

End

 Hornet’s Nest Flag

The city of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, ratified its Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. This flag was created shortly after. It takes British General Cornwallis’ words literally, who described the city as a “hornet’s nest of Rebellion” after the British Army was expelled from Mecklenburg. In ancient Greece, it was believed a hornet’s sting caused madness or death.

Although Meck-Dec Day is celebrated annually in North Carolina to commemorate one of the earliest declarations against British rule, no original copy of the Mecklenburg Declaration exists. The original records were destroyed in a fire in 1800. Today, only the Mecklenburg Resolves document still survives, written eleven days after the declaration, which states that "all Laws...derived from the Authority of the King or Parliament, are annulled and vacated."

To read more about the curious case of the Mecklenburg Declaration, read the four-part article from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library here.