The flag's design came from the New York colonists stating loyalty to King George III, who, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, had expressed concern about Catholic Emancipation as a violation of his coronation oath. New York patriots viewed the monarchy as a symbol of unification initially until the Battle of Lexington, when people such as Isaac Low made claims that the King had violated his oath by allowing Catholicism in Quebec to try breaking the New York citizenry's loyalty to the crown. Despite this, the flag was then adopted as the unofficial flag of the Province of New York during the war on those grounds. This continued until 1777 when George Washington and the Continental Congress adopted the Grand Union Flag to use as a unified flag for all of the states involved.