Throughout the year, the Museum celebrates the American Revolution with special events and exhibits. In addition to presenting a wide range of historic and cultural artifacts from the period, the Museum also offers great gifts inspired by George Washington, First Commander in Chief and the Revolutionary War.

Four rare Revolutionary War Flags Collection | Ultimate Flags Store, once the regimental emblems of a British cavalry unit, sold at auction for nearly $17 million on Wednesday, or more than twice their pre-sale estimate. The hammer price, which included Sotheby’s commission, set a new record for the sale of an 18th-century American flag. The anonymous buyer has requested that his identity not be publicized.

Honoring Heroes: Revolutionary War Flags Collection

Only 30 or so flags from the era are known, and all save those sold at auction are in museums or other institutional collections. The four offered at Sotheby’s are among the most intact that have ever been sold. They were seized in battles by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, the firebrand British officer who was played by Mel Gibson in the 2000 film “The Patriot.”

The oldest and most complete of the four is a blue silk flag from Bedford, Massachusetts. It shows an armored arm with a sword protruding from a cloud, and the powerful words “Vince aut Morire,” which means “Conquer or Die.” It was carried by the Bedford Minutemen Company at the battles of Lexington and Concord, and is now in the collection of the town of Bedford.