Dont Give Up the Ship

Date: September 10, 1813

Description: Blue field with white lettering. [E03]

"Dont Give Up The Ship" were the dying words of Captain James Lawrence. The phrase became the war cry of the War of 1812. The victory at Lake Erie prevented any fear of invasion from Canada. Although, the words are attributed to Captain James Lawrence, the hero of an earlier naval encounter near Boston, the flag has become known as the Commodore Perry Flag.

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry flew this flag aboard his flagship, the Lawrence, during the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10th, 1813. Perry had named his ship after Captain Lawrence.

The second war with Great Britain, the War of 1812, did not produce as many flags as the Revolutionary War.

The original of this flag resides at the U.S. Naval Academy.