1775. The flag consists of a green pine tree on a white canton, upper hoist, placed on a red field. The flag was one of the series of New England Battle flags or Pine Tree flags, and is believed to be the flag carried by colonial forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill at Charlestown, Massachusetts on June 17, 1775. The battle actually took place on Breed's Hill adjacent to Bunker Hill. This was a New England colonial flag minus either the England St. George Cross or the King's Colors British Emblem in the canton. The flag is depicted in a famous painting by John Trumbell of "The Battle of Bunker Hill, " painted in 1786, after the Revolutionary War was over. John Trumbull served in the Continental Army from 1775 to 1777 and watched the Bunker Hill Battle from an adjacent colonial army camp. He became known later for his images of the Revolutionary War. (ref; yale.edu, Yale University Art Gallery)