TAUNTON FLAG (1774)

One of the earliest colonial flags was the Taunton Flag, which was first unfurled at Taunton, Massachusetts in 1774.  It was, in reality, the Meteor Flag of England with the word "Liberty", or words "Liberty and Union", in large white letters across the lower part of the red field.  The Boston Evening Post reported on October 24, 1774:

We have just received the following intelligence from Taunton -- that on Friday last a liberty pole 112 feet long was raised there on which a vane, and a Union flag flying with the words Liberty and Union thereon.

Flags with the words "Liberty" or "Congress" began to appear on liberty poles around throughout the colonies soon thereafter.