The Little Book of the Flag

An engaging compact history traces the birth of America’s most familiar symbol from the colorful banners first seen on the Hudson River. Beginning with the Dutch orange‑white‑blue standard that flew over early trading posts, the narrative moves through the English “ancient” flag, the pine‑tree ensign of New England militiamen, and the makeshift standards that rallied colonists in the years before independence. The author weaves these early emblems into a vivid picture of how a fledgling nation first chose to identify itself on land and sea.

The book then follows the flag’s evolution through the Revolutionary War, detailing the Grand Union banner, the famed Betsy Ross design, and the early United States flags that flew over battles and celebrations. Brief surveys of later versions—such as the fifteen‑star flag, the Star‑Spangled Banner, and the symbols carried into modern ceremonies—show how the fabric grew to embody liberty, conflict, and national pride. Readers come away with a clear sense of the flag’s layered meanings without being thrust into later diplomatic or wartime dramas.