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Flag of the Free

Some persons have the idea that when the Mayflower set sail from Old Plymouth, she flew from one of her mastheads a flag or a pennant with the inscription, “Freedom of Worship for All.”

Actually, the Mayflower never flew nor had such a banner. There was a flag flying from a masttop of the famous little craft as it entered Provincetown Harbor, but it was the flag known to all mariners as the Union Jack, a British flag. It must be remembered in this connection that the Pilgrims, though they were voluntarily exiling themselves, still loved their native land. Moreover their notion of freedom of worship was such freedom for all who believed as they believed, and for no others. Any question about this is resolved by the strict legislation and regulations they put into effect here in the earliest days of the Colony.

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