The Green Mountain Boys flag, also known as the Stark flag, is a reconstruction of a regimental flag commonly stated to have been used by the

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

. A remnant of a Green Mountain Boys flag, originally belonging to

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Batt ...

, is owned by the Bennington Museum. It still exists as one of the few regimental flags from the American Revolution. Although Stark was at the

Battle of Bennington The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm owned by John Green in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A r ...

and likely flew this flag, the battle has become more commonly associated with the

Bennington flag Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous to ...

, which is believed to be a 19th-century banner. Today the flag is used as the regimental flag of the

Vermont National Guard The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mo ...

unit. The regimental flag, known also as a "battle flag" or

war flag A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countri ...

, accompanies the unit on battle assignments and is physically handed to the commander of the regiment, as described by former

Adjutant General

Martha Rainville Martha T. Rainville ( née Trim, born April 9, 1958) is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who attained the rank of major general. She was the first woman in U.S. history to become a state adjutant general when she served in that post with the Ver ...

in an interview.Major General Rainville describing examples of flag return from Iraq, Afghanistan or Bosnia
/ref> The flag is also a symbol of the Vermont secessionist movement. The

Castleton University Castleton University is a public university in Castleton, Vermont. It has an enrollment of 2000 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate programs, as well as master's degrees in education and accounting. It is accredited by the New England ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team has also featured the flag in its pre-game ceremonies since its inception in 2009.

Design

The common reconstruction consists of a green field and a constellation of thirteen five-pointed white stars representing the thirteen colonies arranged in a natural pattern within an azure canton. The existing fragments consist of the canton from the flag, which has remnants of green silk on three sides, and a piece of green cloth with flourish from elsewhere on the flag. Canton of Green Mountain Boys Flag

References

Footnotes

Notations

* Van de Water, Frederic Franklyn ''The Reluctant Republic: Vermont 1724–1791.'' The Countryman Press: 1974. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Mountain Boys, Flag of the Flags introduced in 1776 Flags of the American Revolution Symbols of Vermont Pre-statehood history of Vermont Flags of the United States Flags of Vermont

Design

See also

References

Footnotes

Notations