![]() ![]() On the other hand, the resemblance is obvious, and some of the Founding Fathers of the United States were aware of the East India Company's activities and of their free administration of India under Company rule. However, the theory that the Grand Union Flag was a direct descendant of the flag of the East India Company has been criticized as lacking written evidence. Colonists, therefore, flew the company's flag to endorse the company. Some colonists also felt that the company could be a powerful ally in the American War of Independence, as they shared similar aims and grievances against the British government's tax policies. There is already in use a flag, I refer to the flag of the East India Company." This was a way of symbolizing American loyalty to the Crown as well as the United States' aspirations to be self-governing, as was the East India Company. He said to George Washington, "While the field of your flag must be new in the details of its design, it need not be entirely new in its elements. Benjamin Franklin once gave a speech endorsing the adoption of the company's flag by the United States as their national flag. However, an East India Company flag could have from nine to 13 stripes and was not allowed to be flown outside the Indian Ocean. Both flags could have been easily constructed by adding white stripes to a British Red Ensign, one of the three maritime flags used throughout the British Empire at the time. The flag closely resembles the flag of the British East India Company during that era, and Sir Charles Fawcett argued in 1937 that the company flag inspired the design of the U.S. The name "Grand Union" was first applied to the Continental Colors by George Henry Preble in his 1872 book known as History of the American Flag. The Continental Navy raised the Colors as the ensign of the fledgling nation in the American War for Independence – likely with the expedient of transforming their previous British red ensign by adding white stripes. The "Grand Union Flag", has historically been referred to as the first national flag of the United States. At the time of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the Continental Congress would not legally adopt flags with "stars, white in a blue field" for another year. It remained the national flag until June 14, 1777. It first appeared on December 3, 1775, when Continental Navy Lieutenant John Paul Jones flew it aboard Captain Esek Hopkin's flagship Alfred in the Delaware River. The first flag resembling the modern stars and stripes was an unofficial flag sometimes called the " Grand Union Flag", or "the Continental Colors." It consisted of 13 red-and-white stripes, with the British Jack in the upper left-hand-corner.
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