In 1779, United States Navy Captain John Paul Jones captured the British war frigate "Serapis" at the Battle of Flamborough Head. Jones sailed the ship into the island port of Texel, a property of the Dutch United Provinces. In order to avoid being branded a pirate by authorities, Jones quickly had an ensign made based on descriptions of the American flag from various sources. The Dutch gladly accepted Jones and his crew as legitimate sailors hailing from a foreign sovereignty, and produced an illustration of the flag he flew. The Serapis Flag was this recognized as an ensign of the United States by a foreign sovereignty. I desire to put the Serapis Flag in place of the current Old Glory design as the official flag of the United States of America.



