Rebecca (Flower) Young was a flag maker during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Her name appears in the logs of the commissary general for making "Continental Standards" as early as 1781, making her one of the earlier verified makers of the

Flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

. In addition to flags, she was also paid for making blankets and drum cases between the years of 1780 and 1785.Furlong, 137 In 1781, Young ran an ad in the ''Pennsylvania Packet'' advertising "all kinds of colors for the Army and Navy." She also sewed the standard for the

First American Regiment The First American Regiment (also known as Harmar's Regiment, The United States Regiment, The Regiment of Infantry, 1st Sub-legion, 1st Regiment of Infantry and 1st Infantry Regiment) was the first peacetime regular army infantry unit authorized ...

under Colonel Josiah Harmar. Young had several family connections to important figures in United States history. In 1777, her brother, Colonel Benjamin Flower, was credited with saving the famous musical icon Liberty Bell from the tower of the old Pennsylvania State House (now "

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

") when British forces captured Philadelphia. Her son, Dr. Benjamin Young, learned his profession from Dr. Benjamin Rush. Her daughter Mary Young Pickersgill, (1776-1857), sewed the flag for Baltimore's Fort McHenry, which is what inspired Francis Scott Key to write the current National Anthem, as well as another smaller flag. This was done with her daughter Caroline along with house staff beginning at her 1793 row house at East Pratt and Albemarle Streets and finishing on the floor of a nearby Johnson's/Claggett's Brewery on Front Street, and delivered to Major George Armistead at the Fort in 1813, receiving a government-issued receipt for two flags, a 30 by 42 foot "garrison flag" and a smaller "storm flag" of 17 by 25 feet. Later flown at

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American Coastal defense and fortification, coastal bastion fort, pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, Baltimore, Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War ...

outside

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

that inspired Francis Scott Key, (1779-1843), to pen the words to the poem that became

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

Notes

References

* * Flags of the American Revolution Women in the American Revolution People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution {{US-flag-stub