Liberty Tree Flag

Officially the Massachusetts Sea Service Flag.

Date: 1776.

White field with green pine tree in center. The words "Liberty Tree" above the tree and "An Appeal to God" underneath. [R24]

The Sons of Liberty met in Boston under a pine tree, their symbol for Liberty. When the British learned the significance of the pine tree they were enraged. General Gage, commanding the British troops in Boston, ordered the pine tree where the group met cut down and burned.

The destruction of this tree inflamed the minutemen and a new flag was born - the green tree on a white field. An upper and lower border of blue was added. This flag and the tree became a symbol of resistance to British rule in Massachusetts.