Flag of the Green Mountain Boys,

or Stark Flag, or Flag of the Vermont National Guard Flag-1777

Sometimes referred to as the “Bennington Mob”, the Green Mountain Boys formed in response to a land dispute between New York and New Hampshire.  Reorganized as part of the Vermont Militia, the Green Mountain Boys became best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May of 1775.  The unit was absorbed into the Continental Army and served at the Battle of Bennington. 

In an attempt to cut off New England from the rest of the United States during the summer of 1777, British forces under the command of General Burgoyne marched south from Canada.  By August supplies had run out.  Burgoyne sent a detachment to Bennington Vermont, planning to capture American supplies stockpiled there.  Local militia commanded by General John Stark and reinforced by Green Mountain Boys, sent the British detachment retreating. 

A green regimental Flag with 13 white stars on a blue canton was carried at the battle.  The Flag may have been made by General Stark’s wife Molly.  The canton, or upper corner of the Flag, attached to remnants of green silk archived at the Benington Museum in Vermont date to the late 1770’s.  What’s left of the Flag was passed down through the Stark family from generation to generation until being acquired by the Museum in 1928.

The Flag came to be associated with the Green Mountain Boys who fought alongside Stark at the Battle of Bennington.  It has been adopted as the Flag of the Vermont National Guard.

Sources include:

Bennington Museum, “Object Record, Flag” (1777) http://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/Webobject/F57EDE92-7735-4607-9202-367009604210

DiPietro, Dan. “History of The Vermont Green Mountain Boys’ Flag” (2024) Air National Guard https://www.ang.af.mil/Media/Article-Display/Article/3640367/history-of-the-vermont-green-mountain-boys-flag/

Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” p. 105 (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press

McLaughlin, James. “Matthew Lyon, the Hampden of Congress: a biography” pp. 111-116 (1900) Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company

Zielinski, Adam. “John Stark’s Northern Victory” American Battlefield Trust; Retrieved 25 April from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/john-starks-northern-victory

Special thanks to Callie Raspuzzi, Collections Manager at the Benington Museum.