A New Twist on Old Glory: the History of the Anniversary Flags

A celebration of a historic moment can also add to the history itself. Such is the case with many aspects of the celebration of Bernards Township's 250th anniversary this year, including its beautiful anniversary flags.

The yellow and green flags that can be seen flying on the village greens in Basking Ridge and Liberty Corner, as well as the large banner flag in Town Hall, were designed by township resident Cathy Mondoro and C.J. Designs and donated by the Annin Flag Company, an organization with long ties to Bernards Township.

The story starts in the early parts of the 18th century, when a 7-year-old boy named William Johnston moved to a plot of land in present-day Bernards Township. The Johnstons fled their native Scotland due to religious persecution, moved to Bernards in 1722 and changed their name to Annan, a tribute to their hometown of Annandale. The spelling was later changed to "Annin."

"The [boy's] father's parents were aristocracy. They were a marquis and countess. They had purchased 1,000 acres of William Penn's land adjacent to James Alexander, who was the Surveyor General of New Jersey and would later become the father of Lord Stirling," Bernards Township Historian June Kennedy said, recounting the tale to Basking Ridge Patch.

William and his older brother John fought in the French and Indian War. John was a casualty, but William survived. "William got married in 1749. [He and his wife] had five children, and William built a very imposing stone house in 1766. It was one of three stone houses built in Bernards Township before the American Revolution. Unfortunately, it's the only one that doesn't exist anymore," Kennedy said.

During the American Revolution, William offered his home to General Lafayette and his troops, and after scarlet fever spread through the ranks, the house became a military hospital where William's wife and young son Alexander nursed the soldiers back to health. Annin's wife died of the disease in 1777.

"During the Revolution... a zealous person put a liberty pole, which has banners and streamers and is very gaily decorated, on the village green," Kennedy said. "From that time on, Annin's Corner became known as Liberty Corner."

Annin and his sons John and Joseph were all at times in the New Jersey state legislature, and Alexander, who nursed soldiers back to health as a young boy, later became a physician. Alexander opened a ship chandler's store in New York City in 1829, which provided lanterns, flags and other shipping supplies to merchants in the area.

With the help of two grandsons, Alexander's shipping supply store became the Annin Flag Company in 1847. The company is America's oldest and largest flag manufacturer. It has supplied flags for every presidential inauguration since William Henry Harrison. They also made the flag draping Abraham Lincoln's coffin, the flag raised at Iwo Jima and designed the MIA-POW flag.

"Annin flags have scaled Mt. Everest, and visited the North and South Poles. The stars and stripes accompanied Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts, and the 60 x 90 ft., 500-pound flag of the George Washington Bridge, which has flown every major holiday since 1947, is an Annin flag."

Bernards Township can now proudly add the two flags flying on the village green and the banner flag in Town Hall to Annin's longstanding tradition.

The flag design itself was a creation of Cathy Mondoro, who submitted a draft proposal last spring to the township.

"I built three concepts that the township committee discussed and mulled over, and ultimately settled on this one," Mondoro said. "This one was designed for several reasons, to blend the historical and contemporary for one, because obviously the stars and stripes are very traditional and very historical. Although, I did not want to do traditional red, white and blue colors because I wanted to be more specific to Basking Ridge."

Mondoro chose the yellow and green colors often used by the township, and incorporated the symbol of the oak leaf as an homage to the Old Oak Tree in Basking Ridge. The tree is a local artifact of its own, estimated to have been fully grown by the time Jamestown was settled in 1607.

The flag design was also adapted by Mondoro to create a 250th anniversary logo that will be used on many anniversary celebration items throughout the year.