The name Betsy Ross is synonymous in American folklore with flag making. According to legend, Ross was commissioned by George Washington to make the first American flag. This tale was originally related in 1870 by Ross’s grandson, William Canby, to a meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The tale of Betsy Ross was quickly standardized in publications such as Harper’s Monthly and school textbooks like McGuffey’s Readers. The legend of Betsy Ross sewing the nation’s first flag was also publicly reiterated during the Centennial celebrations in 1876. While this story has not gone unquestioned, it has nonetheless been widely reiterated by historians and textbook publishers in an effort to assert national symbols, endorse the moral of the tale, and promote the contributions of women during the American Revolution. As a result of the perpetuation of this story, Ross has become one of the best-known American icons of the period. By the late twentieth century, however, owing to a lack of supporting evidence, scholars began to reexamine this legend and to question Ross’s role in designing and sewing the nation’s first flag. While such research has not dismissed Ross from the historical record, as some feared, it has shifted the focus of scholarship to examining the true contributions of women during the American Revolution.
Betsy Ross, born Elizabeth Phoebe Griscom, was one of seventeen children born to Samuel and Rebecca Griscom. She was raised and educated as a Quaker as a member of the Religious Society of Friends, and later was taught by her aunt to be a seamstress. Betsy Griscom was married and widowed three times, first to John Ross, second to Joseph Ashburn with whom she had two daughters, and third to John Claypoole with whom she had five daughters. During the American Revolution, the Continental Army employed Ross Upholstery to make soldiers’ uniforms, blankets, and tents, as well as flags for the Pennsylvania Navy. Following the death of her third husband, Ross continued to work in the upholstery shop until 1827 when she turned its management over to her daughter Clarrissa and moved in with her daughter Susanna.
According to legend, George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris, at the urging of the Continental Congress, visited the Ross upholstery business in June 1776 to commission the first American flag. Tradition maintains that Washington proposed a particular design for the flag, with thirteen stars and alternating red and white stripes, which Ross revised, suggesting the usage of five-pointed rather than six-pointed stars. Once the design was agreed upon, Ross purportedly proceeded to sew the first American flag in her back parlor.
According to tradition, Betsy Ross received a commission from General George Washington in 1776 to make a flag for the new United States of America. Her flag contained the stars and stripes motif that became the model for future official flags. Like many accounts from the founding of the United States, the Betsy Ross story contains many elements of fact and some elements of legend. (Library of Congress)
The story of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag was first related by her grandson, William Canby, in March 1870 at a meeting of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Canby claimed that either his grandmother just prior to her death or his Aunt Clarrissa Sydney had told him the story of Ross’s involvement, redesign, and sewing of the Stars and Stripes. Canby supported his claim by noting the connections between Ross’s occupation as a flag maker in Philadelphia and her close social relationship with several of the nation’s founding fathers, such as George Washington. This story was republished by Harper’s Monthly (1873), enshrined in school textbooks like McGuffey’s Readers, depicted in Charles Weisgerber’s painting The Birth of Our Nation’s Flag (1893), and affirmed in George Canby’s The Evolution of the American Flag (1909). Indeed, by the Centennial celebrations in 1876 the tale of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag had become widely disseminated and an accepted part of American history.
Since the late nineteenth century, the legend of Betsy Ross has been entrenched in the American historical consciousness through institutional investment in its perpetuation. The Betsy Ross House has been made into a historical landmark, the United States Postal Service has issued a commemorative postage stamp (1952), and the legend has been perpetuated by historical associations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Yet, despite ongoing public faith in the tale, scholarly examinations of the period’s documents and government records have yet to reveal any definitive proof that Ross was commissioned to sew the first American flag. The fact that the stars and stripes design was not fixed in 1776, but only later through the Flag Act, legislated by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, seems to refute the Betsy Ross legend. In addition, the legend of Betsy Ross ignores the contributions of other flag makers in the colonies, such as Rebecca Flower Young, who sewed the Grand Union Flag, and Mary Young Pickersgills (1776–1857), who created the Star Spangled Banner in 1813 that inspired Francis Scott Key’s poem that later became the national anthem.
In many ways, the tale of Betsy Ross is widely accepted due to its simplicity, centering on an easily recognizable figure, and because it ties the origins of the national flag to George Washington and the founding fathers. The legend clearly appealed to nineteenth-century Americans who were eager for stories of Revolutionary heroes and unifying figures following the War of 1812 (1812–1814) and the Civil War (1861–1865). Historians have also suggested that Ross has been promoted as a role model for young girls and a symbol of women’s contributions to American history. In addition, the Ross legend ties into the iconic events and images associated with the American flag: the burning of the White House in the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key’s (1779–1843) poem “The Star Spangled Banner,” the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, the American Moon landing, and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Regardless of its appeal and perpetuation, the veracity of the Betsy Ross legend has long been contested by both detractors and advocates. However, owing to the existence of limited archival and documentary evidence, the role of Betsy Ross in the design and creation of the first American flag remains questionable.
Sean Morton
“Old Glory” and Flags of the United States
“Old Glory” and the “Stars and Stripes” are two common names for the American flag. Although Betsy Ross is popularly credited with the creation of the thirteen red and white horizontal stripes, with a circle of stars upon a field of blue in the upper left-hand corner, there were several early patterns. A stripe and star were added per each new state until 1818, after which the stripes were limited to thirteen; a new star continues to be added with each new state, the most recent being Hawaii in 1959, which resulted in the current pattern of fifty stars. There were numerous flag designs during the American Revolution; perhaps that which has proven most enduring is the “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake flag, which has been embraced by a new generation who see themselves as protecting the legendary legacy of America’s founding fathers.
C. Fee
See also Founding Myths; Key, Francis Scott; Washington, George
Further Reading
Kashatus, William C. 2002. “Seamstress for a Revolution.” American History 37: 20–26.
Miller, Marla R. 2010. Betsy Ross and the Making of America. New York: Henry Holt.
Taylor, Lonn, Kathleen M. Kendrick, and Jeffrey L. Brodie. 2008. The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon. Washington, DC: Smithsonian/Collins.
Ulrich, Laurel T. 2007. “How Betsy Ross Became Famous: Oral Tradition, Nationalism, and the Invention of History.” Common-Place 8 (1).