Serapis is a name given to an unconventional, early

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

flown from the captured British frigate ''

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

''. At the 1779

Battle of Flamborough Head The Battle of Flamborough Head was a naval battle that took place on 23 September 1779 in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire between a combined Franco-American squadron, led by Continental Navy officer John Paul Jones, and two British e ...

, U.S. Navy Captain

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

captured the ''Serapis'', but his own ship, the '' Bonhomme Richard'', sank, and her ensign had been blown from the mast into the sea during the battle. Jones, now commanding the ''Serapis'' without having a U.S. ensign to fly on it, sailed to the island port of

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

, which belonged to the neutral Dutch United Provinces. Officials from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

argued that Jones was a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, since he sailed a captured vessel flying no known national ensign. A year earlier, Arthur Lee, U.S. commissioner in France, wrote in a letter to Henry Laurens that the U.S. ships' "colors should be white, red, and blue alternately to thirteen" with a "blue field with thirteen stars" in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

, ambassadors to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, wrote a similar description of United States flags: USS John Paul Jones DDG-53 Crest

Apparently based upon this description, a recognizable ensign was quickly made to fly aboard the ''Serapis,'' and Dutch records edited to include a sketch of the ensign to make it official. The Dutch could, therefore, recognize the flag and avoid the legal controversy of Jones' captured ship. The Dutch records survive and provide the original sketch of the ensign. The sketch is labeled "Serapis" and dated 5 October 1779, just one day after the

Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson (October 2,Hopkinson was born on September 21, 1737, according to the then-used Julian calendar (old style). In 1752, however, Great Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar (new style) which moved Hopkinso ...

style flag, labeled "

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

" (a ship in Jones' fleet), was entered. There are five known illustrations of U.S. flags with tri-color stripes. Tri-colored stripes appeared in various European almanacs into the 19th century, featuring stars with 4, 5, or 6 points and arranged in various patterns. The Serapis flag is distinctive because of the four, irregularly placed blue stripes and 8-pointed stars. Although it was flown as a U.S. Ensign and was recognized as such by a foreign nation, it did not meet the Congressional description of U.S. flags under the Flag Resolution of 1777, which specified "alternate red and white" stripes.

The Serapis flag is also known as the "Franklin flag" due to the description given by Ambassador Franklin. It was featured on a 33¢ postage stamp issued in 2000, as a part of the U.S. Postal Service's ''Stars and Stripes'' series. The stamp was titled "John Paul Jones flag." The Franklin Flag is also recognized by the United States Army as the official flag of the 111th Infantry Regiment, which is known as "The Associators", and was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. The flag was carried into battle during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009 by 1-111th Infantry, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division. The 111th Infantry Regiment is the only U.S. Army unit authorized to carry the Franklin (aka "Serapis") flag. This flag, along with the First Navy Jack, is featured on the crest of the .See the patch and description on the official website a
http://www.john-paul-jones.navy.mil/
The Serapis design remains popular among historic U.S. flag displays, and is offered by many flag vendors.

References and links

*Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange ''The Stars and the Stripes. The American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the Republic to the Present'' ©1973. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. {{ISBN, 0-394-47217-9 *Robinson, J. Denni
Unfurling Paul Jones' Flag
22 Sept 2001. ©2001, SeacoastNH.com. *Znamierowski, Alfred ''The World Encyclopedia of Flags'' ©1999, 2002 Anness Publishing Limited, London, UK. Flags of the American Revolution Military flags of the United States