where did the come and take it flag originate
Come and take it In early January 1831, Green DeWitt wrote to Ramón Músquiz, the top political official of Bexar, and requested armament for defense of the colony of Gonzales. This request was granted by delivery of a small used cannon. The small bronze cannon was received by the colony and signed for on March 10, 1831, by James Tumlinson, Jr.[5] The swivel cannon was mounted to a blockhouse in Gonzales and later was the object of Texas pride. At the minor skirmish known as the Battle of Gonzales—the first battle of the Texas Revolution against Mexico—a small group of Texans successfully resisted the Mexican forces who had orders from Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea to seize their cannon. As a symbol of defiance, the Texans had fashioned a flag containing the phrase "come and take it" along with a black star and an image of the cannon that they had received four years earlier from Mexican officials. This was the same message that was sent to the Mexican government when they told the Texans to return the cannon; lack of compliance with the initial demands led to the failed attempt by the Mexican military to forcefully take back the cannon.[6]
Star-Spangled Banner (flag) Available documentation shows that this flag was sewn by local flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill under a government commission in 1813 at a cost of $405.90 (equivalent to $5,147 in 2017).[3][4] George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry, specified "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance".[5][6]