FORTISVEX Taunton Flag 3x5 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

Taunton Flag History

The Taunton flag captures a moment before American independence, when communities were turning shared grievances into public acts of resistance. This design places the words “LIBERTY AND UNION” in white across a red field, with an early British Union design in the upper hoist corner. Unlike the later Stars and Stripes, it uses words rather than a constellation of stars to communicate its central message. That combination makes it especially useful for understanding the political transition from defending colonial rights to creating an independent nation.

According to the Old Colony History Museum’s account, Taunton patriots raised their liberty pole on October 21, 1774, after news arrived of coordinated support among the colonies. The Boston Evening Post reported the event three days later. Its account described a pole 112 feet long, a vane, and a Union flag carrying the liberty-and-union inscription. The pole was therefore more than a place to hang a banner: it was a conspicuous public statement, visible above the town and intended to be remembered. Read the museum’s history and transcription of the contemporary report.

The circumstances of 1774 give the slogan its force. Following the destruction of tea in Boston, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, including the closure of Boston’s port and restrictions on Massachusetts government. The National Park Service describes how resistance spread from Boston into the countryside as towns debated boycotts, challenged royal officials, and organized outside the governor’s authority. Taunton’s flag raising belonged to this wider mobilization. The town’s National Register documentation specifically connects the Liberty and Union flag with opposition to the Boston Port Bill. Explore the Massachusetts crisis and Taunton’s National Register history.

The British-style canton also belongs in the story. Bicentennial remarks preserved in the Congressional Record describe Taunton’s long ties to Britain and a colonial population that did not begin its protests with an agreed plan for separation. An inherited emblem paired with defiant words captures that tension particularly well. The familiar design should therefore not be read as either simple loyalty to every British policy or a declaration of independence made two years ahead of Congress. It recalls a community challenging authority while its political future remained unsettled. Read the recorded bicentennial reflections.

Taunton has continued to make the episode part of its civic identity. The city council adopted the current Liberty and Union flag as the municipal flag on October 19, 1974, approaching the event’s bicentennial. Community commemorations organized with the Old Colony History Museum preserve the connection between the local gathering and the broader Revolutionary story. The present design is a commemorative expression of that tradition, not a claim that every detail of its typography, dimensions, or placement can be recovered from the brief 1774 newspaper description. The museum records the municipal adoption, and the city describes its continuing commemoration.