This precursor to the Union Jack served as the flag of Great Britain from 1707 to 1801. The design came from combining the Scottish flag (St. Andrew's saltire, or diagonal cross) and the English flag (St. George's cross). Though King James I originally decreed that this flag would be for naval use only in 1606, it was adopted as the national flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain following the 1707 Acts of Union. 

The British red ensign was flown by British naval and mercantile ships from 1707 to 1800. This is the flag that flew on ships in the thirteen colonies, serving as a baseline for future American flag designs. 

The Bedford Flag (1720) may be the oldest complete flag known to exist in the United States! Legend claims that it is the flag carried by the Bedford Minuteman, Nathaniel Page, to the Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 

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, MA Town Library.

The Grand Union Flag (1775) is generally considered to be the first national flag of the United States of America. Like the current US flag, it has 13 alternating red and white stripes representing the original thirteen colonies. The canton (upper inner corner) featured the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain. 

By the end of 1775, a new flag was needed to represent the united colonies in rebellion against the British Empire. The Grand Union Flag was first flown on the colonial warship Alfred in December 1775 and was used by the Continental Army until June 1777.  

The "Rebellious Stripes" Flag was adopted by the Sons of Liberty in 1767, featuring five red and four white vertical stripes. The nine stripes represented the nine colonies that attended the Stamp Act Congress—Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina. It was the first American flag to use the now iconic red and white stripes. 

This unusual interpretation of the early US flag was flown by US Navy Captain John Paul Jones on the captured British frigate Serapis, earning its title as the "Serapis" Flag. Jones captured the ship in 1779 and was forced to hastily construct a recognizable iteration of the US flag to fly on it to avoid accusations of piracy. Although it was flown as a US ensign and recognized as such by the Dutch, it did not meet the Flag Resolution of 1777's requirement that the US flag have alternating red and white stripes.

According to tradition, this flag was flown at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (1781) and taken home by North Carolina quarter master Micaja Bullock. Despite its unusual color scheme that does not align with the Flag Resolution of 1777, it is one of the oldest versions of the US Flag in existence. 

The Cowpens Flag, or the 3rd Maryland Flag, may have been flown at the Battle of Cowpens by a member of the 3rd Maryland Regiment. It is one of the first American flags to feature the stars and stripes. 

Tradition holds that this flag was flown by the 3rd Maryland Regiment under the command of General Daniel Morgan (Morganton's namesake) at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781. Technically, the 3rd Maryland Regiment did not fight in the battle, as it had been disbanded after the Battle of Camden six months earlier. However, its members continued fighting and many of them would have ended up under the command of General Morgan and may have continued flying their old regiment's flag. 

The Betsy Ross Flag is an early design for the US flag traditionally associated with Betsy Ross, an upholsterer in Philadelphia. Ross produced uniforms, tents, and flags for the Continental forces. 

The Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution on June 14, 1777, stating that "the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." 

Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Second Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, designed this flag in accordance with the Flag Resolution of 1777. Since the Resolution did not specify how the stars should be oriented in the blue field of the canton, there were multiple different interpretations of the "first" US flag. 

The Gadsden Flag (1775) is named after the politician Christopher Gadsden (1724-1805). Gadsden designed the flag in 1775 during the American Revolution as an assertive warning of vigilance and willingness to act in defense against coercion. As a result, this flag has become associated with the ideas of individualism and liberty. 

The timber rattlesnake depicted on the flag came to be an iconic image of the American Revolution and can be found on multiple different American flags and ensigns.

Although there were several different flags flown at the Battle of Yorktown (1781), the "Simcoe" Yorktown Flag is perhaps the most iconic for its strange interpretation of the design described in the Flag Resolution of 1777. It is depicted in the watercolor portrayal of the battle by British Lt. Colonel John Graves Simcoe. Its odd color palette may have been due to Simcoe viewing it against the sun, so it is possible that this exact design never actually flew at the battle. 

Traditionally, the First Navy Jack Flag was created by Commodore Esek Hopkins, the first Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy. The flag had 13 red and white stripes with an American timber rattlesnake and the words "Don't Tread on Me" (both of which are also featured on the Gadsden Flag).