Flags of the Revolution
Here are six flags of the Texas Revolution with a little history of each one.
Have a look:
Flag of the Alamo
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
The tri-color banner with an eagle perched in a prickly pear and devouring a rattle snake was the flag of the Mexican Republic under the Constitution of 1824. It was to that flag and constitution that Texian immigrants pledged their loyalty.
When the dictator Santa Anna abolished the constitution, Captain Philip Dimmit replaced the eagle with “1824” to make it clear where the allegiance of Texas lay. The provisional government ordered this flag to be flown by all vessels of the Texas Navy. Tradition says this was the flag flown by Travis during the siege of the Alamo.
The Goliad Declaration Flag
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
The bloody arm of defiance! Months before independence was declared at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Captain Philip Dimmitt’s men, along with the citizens of Goliad, drew up their own Declaration of Independence from Mexico.
It was signed at Presidio la Bahia on the altar of the chapel of Our Lady of Loreto. This is the flag they raised outside the chapel in celebration and defiance, heavy on the latter. They had previously rechristened the presidio as Fort Defiance.
The Gonzales Flag
(Come and Take It)
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
In 1831, Mexican authorities had given the colonists at Gonzales a small cannon for defense against hostile Indians. When things appeared to be coming to a head in 1835, they wanted it back. Cynthia Burns and Evaline DeWitt painted this flag and the men of Gonzales carried the message to Col. Ugartechea’s dragoons. The Mexican troops withdrew under fire.
Noah Smithwick wrote about the flag in 1899, saying:
"The first Lone Star flag used in the revolution was gotten up at Gonzales for Austin’s army and consisted of a breadth of white cotton cloth about six feet long, in the center of which was painted in black a picture of the old cannon, above it a lone star and beneath it the words, “Come and take it,” a challenge which was lost on the Mexicans. It was not called the Lone Star, however, but the Old Cannon flag. I doubt if there is another man living who rode out of Gonzales behind it that October morning. … Some were for independence; some for the constitution of 1824; and some for anything, just so it was a row. But we were all ready to fight."
The First Flag of the Republic
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
This flag was adopted in May of 1836, at the convention that wrote the constitution for the newborn republic. The design is attributed to Vice President Lorenzo de Zavala.
The lone star appears again, with TEXAS spelled out between the points, in case anyone should wonder what that single star represents. The same design would appear on Texas “red back” currency.
Some will tell you this flag never existed. They are evidently unaware of the deposition of Juan Reyes, who was one of the Soldados captured at San Jacinto. He and three companions escaped and made their way back to Mexico before Filisola and the rest of the army.
In his deposition to the Mexican Government, Reyes reported:
“The enemy carried two flags: one with the America (woman) painted white with a blue ribbon, the other all blue with a big star in the middle and many little ones, all white .”
From a distance and in the heat of battle, it would be very easy to think the letters between the points of the star on the Zavala flag were smaller stars.
Flag of Ward’s Battalion
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
This flag was made by eighteen year-old Joanna Troutman for a battalion of Georgia boys headed to Texas under the command of Capt. William Ward. It was first flown about the American hotel in Velasco in January of 1836.
Ward’s Battalion brought the flag to Goliad, where Col. Fannin hoisted it as the national flag when he received news independence had been declared. Ward and most of his men were killed in the Goliad Massacre.
The San Jacinto Battle Flag
Limited Edition Fine Art Print - 254 copies
San Jacinto Banner - The battle flag of the Newport Rifles, commanded by Col. Sidney Sherman. Lady Liberty painted on a silk banner.
Sherman’s men, moving swiftly through the woods on the left flank were the first to make contact with the enemy at the Battle of San Jacinto, taking General Cos’ command by surprise.
Sherman, leading the way, was the first to shout, “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!”
The remnants of the original banner hang in the Capitol behind the Speaker’s podium when the House is in session. A replica hangs there at all other times.