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Germanna Foundation Flag (U.S.)

Virginia

image by Randy Young, 8 December 2014

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

The Germanna Foundation is a civic organization dedicated to preserving "the early German-American heritage that began in colonial Virginia through lively programs of land conservation; preservation of historic structures, sites, and cemeteries; education of the general public as well as the tens of thousands of descendants of those early settlers; and the development of strong international relations with counterparts in Germany." The foundation owns, maintains, and administers 179 acres of land along the Rapidan River on the border of Orange and Culpeper Counties in central Virginia, including the original site of the Germanna settlement. Founded in 1714, the Germanna settlement marked the first permanent settlement of German colonists in the English colonies. The settlement was approved and established under the administration of Royal Governor Alexander Spotswood, who had advertised in Germany for miners to move to Virginia and establish a mining industry for the colony. (www.germanna.org/about/mission/)

The Foundation also maintains and operates a small museum commemorating the Germanna settlement. Located on Rt. 3 west of Fredericksburg, it overlooks the Rapidan River on the 179 acres owned by the Foundation. The museum is immediately adjacent to the campus of Germanna Community College's Locust Grove Campus. The college is named after the colonial settlement. The Foundation's flag flies, along with the American and Virginia flags, outside the museum.

The flag of the Foundation features the Germanna Foundation logo in gold on a blue field. The logo itself shows a golden horseshoe inside in a golden pentagon. The pentagon represents the shape of the original Fort Germanna, while the horseshoe remembers Governor Spotswood and his Knights of the Golden Horseshoe who carried out the first expedition to map out the colony of Virginia beyond the Rappahannock River valley. This flag was adopted in early 2014 to help commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Germanna settlement. The previous flag featured the Foundation's previous logo on a white field.

Randy Young, 8 December 2014