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Saturday, April 19 is the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world,” or the opening gunfire that started the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts in 1775 that marked the start of the American Revolution. The war captured the attention of the globe at the time.

Many may believe the phrase “shot heard round the world” was written about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that started World War 1, or for the Saturday morning cartoon “Schoolhouse Rock.”

But it was coined in 1837 by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem “Concord Hymn” for the memorialization of the “embattled farmers” at the Old North Bridge as “their flag to April’s breeze unfurled.”

“Flags in the late 18th century for military usage are tools as much as they are motivations,” said James Taub, of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

“These flags were made for military units during the Revolution,” he said. “In this age of horse and musket, marking where you are on the battlefield is a key part of fighting a battle. For a general to be able to know where his troops are and for the troops to be able to know where they’re supposed to be.”

Taub curated the largest-ever assembly of historic Revolutionary flags in “Banners of Liberty,” on view now at the Museum of the American Revolution.

Of the hundreds of flags made for fighting units during the war, about 30 are known to still exist, according to Taub. He assembled 17, borrowing from private and institutional collections.

To his knowledge, Taub said this number of Revolutionary flags has not been seen in one place since the end of the war in 1783.

“Not only is this once in a generation, it’s really once in a century, if not more, for this to happen,” he said.

The flags trace the evolution of revolutionary thought as the colonists began to take up arms against the British. The earliest flags of rebellion include British colors and symbols. In 1775, rebelling colonists were fighting for their rights as English subjects, not yet for independence, so they still aligned themselves with English rule.

Taub points to two flags of the New Hampshire regiments that show the confusion over symbolism persisted well after the Declaration of Independence was presented.

“These were ordered in the spring of 1777, so almost a full year after independence has already been declared,” he said, showing off two large flags with British colors clearly distinguishable in their corners.

“They have unique insignia on the crest, here specific to the regiment, the second New Hampshire Regiment. But they keep British symbols in their cantons,” Taub said. “You have the British Grand Union, the cross of St. George for England and St. Andrew of Scotland remaining. So it’s yet to really be figured out.”

Not only did the patriots not have a standard flag to fight under, but they also did not have an army. The Revolution began with a ragtag network of loosely affiliated militias, some formed by individual colonies, others initiated by private citizens. The Continental Congress agreed to form a centralized army in June 1775, which depended on support from militias.

Pennsylvania did not officially form a fighting unit until 1777 because the colony was governed largely by Quakers who did not want to mandate military service. Instead, residents had formed the Pennsylvania Associators, represented in “Banners of Liberty” with a large buff-colored flag with the tell-tale British Union Jack in the upper corner.

Most of the flags have imagery referencing ideals, politics and alliances. Others are focused on fighting.

The 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons features 13 stripes in its upper right corner. In the middle is a crest featuring a winged thundercloud and a scroll underneath written with a Latin phrase.

It’s hard to decipher.

“It’s very butchered Latin,” Taub said. “I hate to break it to students of the Founding Fathers, these guys had a very elementary understanding of Latin. We’re interpreting their best interpretation of Latin. We think the closest is something like, ‘Her sons will answer with thunder.’”

The dragoons were trained for combat on horseback and to serve as General George Washington’s personal bodyguards, not to understand Latin.

“This is a military flag meant for guys who are getting together professionally to fight,” Taub said.

“Banners of Liberty” will be on view until Aug. 10.