2nd Rhode Island Regiment Flag-1777
Originally stood up in 1775 as part of the Continental Army, the Rhode Island Regiment saw action from Bunker Hill to Yorktown. The unit was reorganized several times and in January 1777 was established as the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island Regiments. The Rhode Island Assembly voted to enlist “able bodied negro, mulatto, or Indian man slaves”. Approximately 140 African Americans enlisted, leading to the unit being called the “Black Regiment”. It took 164 years for American soldiers of all races to serve together in the same unit again.
Referencing Hebrews 6:18-19; (We have our refuge to lay hold upon that hope that is set before us. Which hope we have, as an anchor of the soul.) the symbol of Rhode Island has been the anchor since 1647. The word “Hope” was added to the seal in 1664. Since 1877, the Rhode Island state Flag has featured an anchor and the word “Hope”.
Both the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island regiments carried white Flags with 13 stars on a blue union in the upper corner. The Flag of the 2nd Regiment has an anchor and “Hope” in the center. At the close of the War for Independence, both Flags were given to the Rhode Island assembly. The Flags were displayed at the Rhode Island Statehouse until 2015 when they moved to climate-controlled storage.
The exact date of the creation of the Rhode Island Regimental Flags is unclear, but it is clear they are a couple of the oldest Flags to bear 13 stars.
Sources:
Chapin, Howard. “Early Rhode Island Flags” pp. 3-8 (1925) Rhode Island Historical Society Collections
Chapin, Howard. “Illustrations of the Seals, Arms and Flags of Rhode Island” pp. 34-39 (1930) Rhode Island Historical Society
Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” p. 135 (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press
Preble, George. “Our Flag, Origin and Progress of the Flag of the United States of America” pp. 206-209, (1872) Kessinger’s Legacy Reprint
Reese, John. "Negro, Mulatto, or Indian man slave[s]’: African Americans in the Rhode Island Regiments, 1775-1783” (2024) American Battlefield Trust https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/negro-mulatto-or-indian-man-slaves-african-americans-rhode-island-regiments-1775-1783
Rhode Island Revolutionary Rolls, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan. https://findingaids.lib.umich.edu/catalog/umich-wcl-M-4795rho
Smith, Whitney. “The Flag Book of the United States” pp. 194-195 (1970) William Marrow and Company Inc.
Verger, Jean Baptiste Antoine De. “Soldiers in Uniform” (1781) Watercolor. United States of America Rhode Island, (1781) https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669876/.
Very Special Thanks to Ken Carlson, Reference Archivist with the Rhode Island State Archives.