The flag of Taunton, Massachusetts, also known as the Taunton Flag and the Liberty and Union Flag, is the city flag of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States. The flag was first adopted in 1774 and has since been adopted as the flag of Taunton. It consists of the Red Ensign with the flag of Great Britain in canton, defaced with the words "Liberty and Union" across the lower portion.
The Taunton flag was one of the first flags used within the Thirteen Colonies to express dissension against the Crown.[5] It also initially symbolised underlying loyalty to the Crown as the Union Flag was viewed as the King's Colours.[6] The popularity of the flag grew due to the Boston Evening-Post publishing it in a story.[7] The wife of William McKinstry, the only Loyalist permitted to remain, expressed her disdain for the Taunton flag and in response female Patriots dragged her from her house and forced her to march in front of the liberty pole where it was flying.[1][3] A later version of the Taunton Flag was created including the "Liberty and Union" slogan on a Union Flag.[8]
Present day
The current flag was adopted as the city flag of Taunton by a resolution of the Taunton City Council on October 19, 1974. It is not known what the original flag looked like; the current design is based on an incomplete contemporary newspaper description.[9]
In addition to being the official flag of Taunton, Massachusetts, the Taunton flag is also the official flag of Weymouth, New Jersey. Their reasoning for using the flag is that "its historical period is correct, it keeps alive an ancestor to our Stars and Stripes, and because it is always in production and therefore, cheap".[11] Like in Taunton it can be seen flying outside Weymouth's town hall.
^ abThomas Eddlem, "Taunton's Patriots & Tories: The Patriotic Struggle in One Southeastern Massachusetts Community Led to Honor for Patriot Robert Treat Paine and Obscurity for Tory Daniel Leonard", The New American
^Bartram, Graham. "British flags". The Flag Institute. Retrieved 2007-05-02.