🇺🇸⚓️ The “Dont Give Up The Ship” Flag and Motto: Born from Niagara’s War of 1812 🌊
Niagara Falls today is a place of beauty and wonder — but during the War of 1812, it was part of the most contested border in North America. The Niagara River was the dividing line between the United States and British Canada, and it became a front of bloody battles: Fort Niagara, Queenston Heights, and the brutal night fight at Lundy’s Lane.
At the same time, just west of Niagara on Lake Erie, a new Navy legend was born. Captain James Lawrence, mortally wounded aboard the USS Chesapeake in 1813, gave his last command: “Don’t give up the ship.” His friend, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, carried those words onto his own blue battle flag, stitched in Erie, Pennsylvania, and flew it during the Battle of Lake Erie.
That victory — fought within the same Great Lakes theater as Niagara Falls — gave America control of the water, cut British and Indigenous supply lines, and turned the tide of the war. A famous painting shows Perry rowing across to the USS Niagara with the flag over his shoulder, refusing to surrender even as his flagship burned.
Commodore Perry leaving the Lawrence for the Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie.
In 1813, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry asked a young woman in Erie, Pennsylvania — Margaret Forster Steuart — to sew a battle flag. In big white letters, it read: “Dont Give Up The Ship.” That flag flew over his ship, the USS Lawrence, during the Battle of Lake Erie, where Perry defeated the British and cut off their supply lines.
When the Lawrence was wrecked, Perry carried the flag across the waves to the USS Niagara — an image so powerful it became legend. The original flag now rests at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, while a replica hangs in Memorial Hall, inspiring Midshipmen every day.
At Annapolis, the motto is more than history — it’s a code of honor and courage. And here at Niagara, Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site stands as a living reminder of how this border region became a crucible of resilience in America’s second war for independence.
So when the mist rises at the Falls, remember: this was once a battlefield. It’s where America learned to stand tall, to endure, and above all — not to give up the ship.
#NiagaraFalls #WarOf1812 #DontGiveUpTheShip #OldFortNiagara #GoNiagaraTours #History
Watch a full video about the flag below:
This picture is of the original flag with the Navy’s famous motto, inspiring sailors for generations. There’s no apostrophe — that’s how it was first made. The flag on display at the Academy’s museum looks different from the bright blue versions you often see, because the blue fabric was added later to preserve it. Recent conservation revealed this and other discoveries, helping protect the flag for future generations.