First Flag Ceremony, First Flag Raising, and Grand Union Flag

A Reenactment of the Raising of America’s First Flag

Every New Year’s Day the city of Somerville commemorates an important moment of the American Revolution The First Flag Raising. The event reenacts the one that took place on Prospect Hill on January 1, 1776.

General Washington raised a new American flag on that day over the highest point in the land, Prospect Hill in Somerville. The event starts at Somerville City Hall and proceeds to Prospect Hill. Numerous city officials, the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts based out of Faneuil Hall (Boston), and re-enactors participate in the ceremony and parade.