SONS OF LIBERTY FLAG

As protests grew within the colonies, Liberty Poles, Liberty Trees and Liberty Flags were seen with increasing frequency. Benjamin Franklin's design of the disjointed snake, each section representing one of the Colonies, became a popular device to express the need for unification.  Franklin's design had a snake cut into eight parts (NE, NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA, NC and SC). Paul Revere's adaptation appeared in the Massachusetts Spy in 1774, depicting a snake cut into nine parts, adding Georgia. This artist's conception blends Franklin's snake with early Revolutionary War accounts of a flag bearing nine vertical red and white stripes.