Clasped Hands Flag

Also know as Linked Hands Flag

Date: circa 1776.

Dark olive green. White canton with thirteen clasped hands in a circle. [R41]

The 13 hands are arranged in a circle with the fingers pointing to the blue round center, symbolizing the thirteen colonies united as one with a common purpose, the forerunner of the slogan, "E Pluribus Unum." - "One out of many."

Similar flags are associated with Newburyport, MA. The following notation is from the Historical Society of Old Newbury.

This flag is similar to a flag used by a militia company from Newburyport during the Revolutionary War with the exception that Newburyport's has a green pine tree on a light blue circle in the center of the outreached hands. The emblem is made up of thirteen hands which represent the thirteen colonies. The hands are holding a circular chain, which links them together in the fight against Britain. For this reason, it sometimes is called the "Linked-hands flag." The pine tree in the center of our example is an old emblem of Massachusetts.

Source: "History at Home - The Story of Newburyport - Part 2"