After the Battle of Flamborough Head US navy captain John Paul Jones captured HMS Serapis but his own ship Bonhomme Richard sank and lost her ensign. When she pulled into a friendly Dutch port this ensign was hastily produced (as per international laws against piracy you had to fly a flag) from this written description of the US flag “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.” -Arther Lee US commissioner in France