This illustration is often used to represent events on evacuation day in Massachusetts. The flag fluttering to the ground is the flag the British Army left there but the colors look the opposite of how the Union Jack typically looks. Was there ever a flag like this that the British flew?
No. The Union Jack has only ever had a red cross (from the flag of England) and a blue background (from the flag of Scotland). Whoever coloured this image made an error. And whoever drew it too, for that matter. The British flag being lowered seems to be an illustration of the current Union Jack, which was adopted in 1801 after the Union with Ireland. In 1783 it would have looked like this.
Im not aware of any flag like this ever flown by Britain, its certainly not a Union Flag though. This is a shot in the dark but The flag of the British army has a red background, currently with a crossed swords style emblem in the middle. I wonder if this could be an older version of the Armys flag? or perhaps the regimental colours of whichever regiment was based in Boston?
