The American flag is an ever changing flag and maybe I can clear up some confusion about it. The two storylines with the United States in them are 1777 and 1793.
This flag was used from 1776 - 1795. a.k.a. the Betsy Ross Flag.
These two flags are 1777 variants.
and
This flag I commonly see on American ships, is a 1779 variant commonly called the Serapis flag.
From Wikipedia:
At the Battle of Flamborough Head, U.S. Navy Captain John Paul Jones captured the Serapis, but his own ship, the Bonhomme Richard sank, and her ensign had been blown from the mast into the sea during the battle. Jones, now commanding the Serapis without an ensign, sailed to the island port of Texel, which was run by the neutral United Provinces. Officials from the United Kingdom argued that Jones was a pirate, since he sailed a captured vessel flying no known national ensign.
A year earlier, Arthur Lee, American commissioner in France, wrote in a letter to Henry Laurens that the U.S. ships' "colors should be white, red, and blue alternately to thirteen" with a "blue field with thirteen stars" in the canton. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, ambassadors to France, wrote a similar description of United States flags:
"It is with pleasure that we acquaint your excellency that the flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen stripes, alternately red, white, and blue; a small square in the upper angle, next the flagstaff, is a blue field, with thirteen white stars, denoting a new constellation."
Apparently based upon this description, a recognizable ensign was quickly made to fly aboard the Serapis, and Dutch records edited to include a sketch of the ensign to make it official. The Dutch could, therefore, recognize the flag, solving the legal problem of Jones' pirated ship. The Dutch records survive and provide us with the original sketch of the ensign. The sketch is labeled "Serapis" and dated 5 October 1779, just one day after the Francis Hopkinson style flag, labeled "Alliance" (a ship in Jones' fleet), was entered.
There are five known illustrations of American flags with tri-color stripes. Tri-colored stripes appeared in various European almanacs into the 19th century, featuring stars with 4, 5, or 6 points and arranged in various patterns. The Serapis flag is distinctive because of the four, irregularly placed blue stripes and 8-pointed stars. Although it was flown as a U.S. Ensign and was recognized as such by a foreign nation, it did not meet the Congressional description of U.S. flags under the Flag Resolution of 1777, which specified "alternate red and white" stripes.
Then finally in 1795, the Betsy Ross flag was replaced with this 15 star version.
http://117.53.155.31/~pahoy/forum/uploads/monthly_04_2011/post-15630-0-02256800-1303288201_thumb.gif
Except for the American forts, which have the Betsy Ross Flags, all the American ships seem to have the Serapis flag. Which works fine for the 1793 storyline, but for the 1777 storyline, flying the Serapis flag would be innacurrate since the Serapis flag did not come into being until 1779.
Sorry for totally nerding out, but I'm a stickler for history. Especially American history. I would like to hopefully see this fixed in future mods or packs. As always thank you for your time and work.
P.S. for future mods, could you possibly do some American missions? Like something involving the USS Constitution(old ironsides) would be really cool. Also, I would love to see more American ships.
Ok I'm done. lol
