The earliest known flag of 13 stars and 13 stripes is the one which flew over the Battle of Bennington in August of 1777, by the Vermont Militia,  fortunately, it is still preserved today in the museum at Bennington, Vermont.  as in many other flags from that era, the Bennington flag has unexpected differences from the flag we love today.  the first flag law did not indicate exact details of colors, proportions, star arrangement, etc.  since all flags were mad by hand, each flag was more or less different from all others.  No one today knows why the figure 76 was added in the canton.  While the stars have have 7 points, other Revolutionary flag' stars vary from 4 to 8 points. The first Stars and Stripes to lead American armed forces on land.

Other Historical Flags