Betsy Ross Flag - The 'Ross Question'

The 'Ross Question'

Canby's account has been the source of some debate. It is generally regarded as being neither proven nor disproven, and any evidence that may have once existed has been lost. It is worth pointing out that while modern lore may enhance the details of her story, Betsy Ross never claimed any contribution to the flag design except for the five-pointed star, which was simply easier for her to make.

The main reason historians and flag experts do not believe that Betsy Ross designed or sewed the first American flag is a lack of historical evidence and documentation to support her story.

• No records show that the Continental Congress had a committee to design the national flag in the spring of 1776.
• Although George Washington had been a member of the Continental Congress, he had assumed the position of commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775, so it would be unlikely that he would have headed a congressional committee in 1776. However he did serve on a committee with John Ross' uncle George Read in 1776 (see below).
• Although Betsy Ross kept detailed records, no invoice or document was found linking to this transaction.
• There is no evidence to show that Betsy Ross and George Washington knew each other, or that George Washington was ever in her shop. However, George Ross and George Washington were both acquaintances of George Read in 1776, and he had frequent communication with both parties.
• In letters and diaries that have surfaced, neither George Washington, Col. Ross, Robert Morris, nor any other member of Congress mentioned anything about a national flag in 1776. Francis Hopkinson, a treasurer of loans and a consultant to the second congressional committee, has a naval design from 1780 which was clearly a derivative of earlier designs.
• The Flag Resolution of 1777 was the first documented meeting, discussion, or debate by Congress about a national flag.
• It is not unusual that Ross, an upholsterer, would have been paid to sew flags—there was a sudden and urgent need for them, and other Philadelphia upholsterers were also paid to sew flags in 1777 and years following.

Supporters of Betsy Ross's story make the following arguments:

• George Ross was an uncle of Betsy's late husband, John, which could explain why Betsy was chosen to make the first flag.
• Robert Morris was a business partner of John Ross, Betsy's cousin by marriage. He also had served with George Ross the Marine Committee.
• George Washington was in Philadelphia in Spring 1776, where he served on a committee with John Ross' uncle George Read, and Congress approved $50,000 for the acquisition of tents and "sundry articles" for the Continental Army.
• On May 29, 1777, Betsy Ross was paid a large sum of money from the Pennsylvania State Navy Board for making flags.
• The "gentleman" mentioned above who had a ship's flag could easily have been Robert Morris who was a merchant and owned many ships. Morris also would have been described as the "employer" who ran the flag "to the peak of one of his ships lying at the wharf".
• Morris was on the Marine Committee at the time the flag vote was taken as part of Marine Committee business.
• The wording of the Flag Resolution of 1777 does not design a new flag, but confirms popular designs already in use.
• Rachel Fletcher, Betsy Ross's daughter, gave a sworn affidavit to Betsy Ross's story.
• A painting dated 1851 by Ellie Wheeler, allegedly the daughter of Thomas Sully, shows Betsy Ross sewing the flag (online at ushistory.org), so the story was known nearly 10 years before the Civil War and nearly 20 years before Canby's presentation to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.