The Betsy Ross Controversy

Evidence for the Delegation of Three and the First American Flag

Feb 7, 2008

Betsy Ross is said to have made the first American flag during the American Revolution, but the absence of any correspondence since has led some to doubt the event.

The story goes that in June of 1776, Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Ross, a seamstress living in Philadelphia, was visited by George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross. This ‘delegation of three’ commissioned the young Mrs Ross, wife of patriot John Ross, to produce a flag representing the thirteen colonies of America.

No correspondence, either letter or receipt, corroborates the event and as a result, historians have since cast doubt on the veracity of the Ross family legend. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of secondary evidence does indeed exist to prove that events unfolded just as the tale tells.

The American flag as we know it today was not ratified until 1777, while Betsy herself claimed to have made the flag in 1776. However, Colonel John Trumbull and Captain Charles Wilson Peale were artists who fought under George Washington at Princeton and Trenton, before the official ratification; both these eyewitnesses depicted Betsy’s flag in paintings of battles prior to the ratification; it would appear that the flag ratified in 1777 was already in use as the de-facto banner of the Revolution.

Betsy Ross was a Quaker, born into a devout family and ostracised from her community for marrying outside the faith in 1773. The rapid progress of the war saw her join ‘The Fighting Quakers’, a branch of the fellowship that accepted the need to suspend pacifism in support of the Revolution. Among the Quakers of Philadelphia who joined this new movement was her friend Samuel Wetherill, who visited Betsy on the same day as the delegation of three. The sworn account of the Wetherill family is that Samuel was the first to hear Betsy’s story, a detail of which was that she had made a five-pointed star with a single snip of the scissors as a demonstration to the delegation. This original star made by Betsy still exists; Samuel Wetherill kept it as a souvenir and the star was found in the Wetherill family safe in 1925.

Additionally, there is evidence of a strong friendship between Betsy Ross and Sarah Franklin, daughter of Ben Franklin; Sarah lived to have eight children, the first of whom died very young and who’s name is unrecorded, however; the first surviving son was named Ben Franklin, the second William (after Sarah’s brother). The fourth child and eldest surviving daughter of Sarah Franklin was named Betsy. Moreover, William Franklin, the governor of New Jersey, officiated at the wedding of John and Betsy, while the Philadelphia house in which the young couple lived was a wedding gift from Benjamin Franklin, only a few doors from the Franklin family home.

Besides the Franklin link, it is also known that Washington and Betsy regularly attended the same church; John Ross was the son of the pastor, and it was John’s uncle George Ross who came with Washington to commission the flag. Through her familial connections and employment as a seamstress for a number of prominent revolutionaries, Betsy was well ensconced within Washington’s social circle and the most obvious candidate to receive commission of the first American Flag.

The copyright of the article The Betsy Ross Controversy in Colonial America is owned by Samuel Z Jones. Permission to republish The Betsy Ross Controversy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.