Flags of the Texas Revolution
Women had a huge part in creating the early flags of Texas. In late 1835, Sarah R. Dodson made the first Texas “tri-color lone star” flag out of calico that consisted of red, white and blue squares with a single white star on the blue square. The flag was made in late 1835 for a company of volunteers at Harrisburg. Sarah’s husband, Archelaus Dodson, was a first lieutenant in the company.
Also in 1835, a flag was created by William Scott’s company when he gave some blue silk to one of his men who then “painted a large white star in the center above the word independence.” Frances Lynch was then given the flag in which she “sewed a piece of domestic cloth to the flag to protect its edges.” Frances was the wife of Nathaniel Lynch, the operator of Lynch’s Ferry on the San Jacinto River.
The Gonzales flag was created when two women, Cynthia Burns and Evaline DeWitt, painted a canon on a flag with the words “Come and Take It.” The flag was created when the town got word that Mexican soldiers were coming take back a cannon they had loaned to the town to fight off Indian attacks.
The Troutman flag is named after the 18 year old girl, Joanna Troutman, who made it. The white flag with blue star reading Liberty or Death was made for a company of men from Georgia who came to Texas to help with the Revolution. Most all of these men were massacred at Goliad.
The flag that flew over the Battle of San Jacinto was created by the ladies of Newport, Kentucky who “presented the flag to Sidney Sherman’s company of Newport Volunteers before they left for Texas in December 1835.” The flag featured “a defiant female, in the form of a goddess of liberty, with an outstretched arm holding a sword and ribbon inscribed with ‘Liberty or Death.’”
Some of the information above was taken from “Women and the Texas Revolution”, edited by Mary L. Scheer and chapter by Jeffrey D. Dunn. Other information and the pictures was taken fromgalleryoftherepublic.com.
