This is a story of survival.

In 1755, the British colonies in North America were called to fight on behalf of the Empire.  About that time – or maybe even earlier – someone used a small loom to handweave a humble piece of cloth, measuring 31 by 34 inches.  They used whatever dyes were locally available to give it color.  In the top left corner, they added St. George’s Cross, indicating the British Empire.  And then, within the upper left quadrant of the cross, they added a pine tree, which was a symbol of Connecticut.  Finally, they embroidered “5th Regt” in the center.  The result was a battle flag of the 5th Connecticut Provincial Regiment, which presumably flew at the head of their ranks as they marched off to the French and Indian War.

We know the 5th came from east-central CT, north of New London and east of Hartford.  And that they were sent to defend the critical Lake George/Lake Champlain corridor, and may have served at Fort Ticonderoga, Fort Edward, or Fort William Henry.  Beyond that, we know little.  But somehow the flag made it through these bloody battles, and came home in the possession of one Jacob Woodward, who was an Ensign of the regiment and responsible for carrying the flag (he may have even been its creator).  Several pieces of the flag were snipped off for souvenirs by surviving regimental soldiers.  And then, after that, the flag was wadded up and thrown into a chest.

The flag slept quietly in its box for over two centuries.  But then, not long ago, the chest was sold as part of an estate auction by the Woodward family in Southold, New York on the eastern tip of Long Island.  When the new owner opened the box, he immediately suspected he may have found something of value.  He brought it to several appraisers.  They were able to confirm its authenticity and its incredible value: the flag may in fact be the oldest in existence in North America.  Sotheby’s added the flag to its catalog. Asking price? Half a million dollars.

But how do you place a value on history, and what is something truly worth?  With the recent economic downturn, there were no offers for the flag.  And so it went back to sleep, this time carefully preserved in a clear case.  Several more years went by, until the flag came to the attention of a specialist in Colonial American history.  He made a second review of the flag’s pedigree and then – authenticity reconfirmed – the flag was acquired by a museum in New Jersey.  The flag was shipped to Trenton, and shortly thereafter, an exhibit was created on the French and Indian War, with the flag as its centerpiece.

And so it is that today, Flag Day 2013, on the 250th Anniversary of the end of the war for which the flag was created and in which it proudly served, everyone can see the Woodward Pine Tree Flag. It is “flying” once again, on the gallery wall of the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton NJ. And virtually, on Facebook, here.

The past endures. Happy Day, Flag.