Description
The Bedford Flag may be the oldest complete flag known to exist in the United States. Physical and historical evidence dates it from early in the 1700s, and the Bedford Flag is similar to a flag described as having been used by a cavalry troop of the Massachusetts Bay Militia in the French and Indian Wars. It may well have been that flag. Further legend states that it was later carried by Bedford Minuteman, Nathaniel Page, to the Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775, at the beginning of the American Revolution. However, there is no proof, either from testimonies, depositions, diaries or memoirs written by any participants, mentioning any such flag flown that day. The Latin inscription Vince Aut Morire” means “conquer or die.” The arm emerging from the clouds represents the arm of God. The original is housed at the Bedford.
