Updated on October 24, 2025: This has been sold. The flag of New England or the Continental flag, with label attached to the hoist, "Sterling Reg.US.Pat.Off. — All Wool Bunting — Annin," with gold fringe around the margins. It is beautifully made and only has a few small issues, which I've included in the photographs and which, from a normal viewing distance are either not noticeable or barely noticeable. Note that the pine tree is printed. (The pine tree on the Appeal to Heaven flag we offered was a piece of fabric sewn and embroidered to the flag.) Annin claims to be the world's largest and oldest flag company and they trace their founding back to 1820. Important: This is for display and it appears to have been pinned up by its previous owner. There are no grommets and there is no sleeve for attaching it to a pole. Both could be added. The question would then be the durability if it was displayed outdoors. — Lee Wright | Founder Size: 4' x 6' Historical background I came across a post recently from the Redheaded Libertarian and thought it provided helpful background. At the end it references the "Appeal to Heaven" flag, which we offered recently and which quickly sold. "Why is the pine tree a symbol of resistance? Here is some New Hampshire lore in honor of the free staters, courtesy of “Daily Dose of the American Rev” “A 1722 law prohibited New Hampshire settlers from cutting down any white pine trees more than one foot in diameter. Those trees, the law declared, belonged to the king for potential use in naval construction. For decades the law was honored in the breach and rarely enforced. But after John Wentworth was appointed royal governor of the colony he decided to crack down on violations. "In April 1772 royal authorities arrested sawmill owner Ebenezer Mudgett of Weare, New Hampshire, and charged him with breaking the law. New Englanders had long resented the so-called “pine mast laws” as infringements on their livelihoods and their liberties. The night of his arrest, after being released on bail, Mudgett and about 20 other townsmen disguised themselves and broke into a room in the local inn where the sheriff and his deputy were staying. Mudgett and his colleagues seized the two men, beat them, then ran them out of town before a jeering crowd of onlookers. Mudgett and eight others were later arrested and charged with rioting and assault. A sympathetic judge gave them nominal fines as their punishment. "In the aftermath of the affair the pine tree became a symbol of the resistance to royal authority and the so-called Pine Tree Riot may have helped inspire the Boston Tea Party. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, New England Continental troops flew “pine tree flags”—red battle flags with a pine tree on the upper left. "In October 1775 George Washington commissioned a pine tree flag for the American navy. Washington’s design was a pine tree on a white field, above which appeared the words “An Appeal to Heaven.” The phrase, frequently used by the revolutionaries, appeared in John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. “For whenever violence is used, and injury done, though by hands appointed to administer justice,” Locke wrote, “war is made upon the sufferers, who having no appeal on earth to right them, they are left to the only remedy in such cases, an appeal to heaven.” The scripture cited by Locke in support of his argument made clear his meaning: an appeal to heaven for victory in war. In other words, when there is no just temporal authority to whom the oppressed can appeal, their final option is to take up arms and appeal to heaven.” Shipping: $15. Please allow two weeks for shipping.
