The Birth of the United States Army

On June 10, 1775, in the aftermath of Lexington and Concord, John Adams urged the Continental Congress to form a Continental Army to take charge of colonial militia facing the British at Boston.
 
On June 14, 1775, Congress passed a resolution “that six companies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in in Maryland, and two in Virginia,” and they “shall march and join the army near Boston.”  
 
The next day, June 15, Congress made George Washington commander in chief of the new force.  The Army is the oldest of the five major branches of the United States Armed Forces.  
The U.S. Army flag was adopted in 1956, and is a white flag bearing a blue design that dates to the Revolutionary War.  The motto reads:  “This We’ll Defend”.