Centered above the Phrygian cap is a rattlesnake holding in its mouth a scroll inscribed 'This We'll Defend.' Centered below the cuirass are the Roman numerals 'MDCCLXXVIII.'

To the left of the cuirass and musket is a national color of the Revolutionary War period, with cords and tassels, on a flagstaff with spearhead, similarly arranged above a mortar on a carriage, the mortar facing inward and in front of the lower portion of the color and obscuring the lower part of it below the mortar are two bomb shells placed side by side. To the right of the cuirass and esponton is a flag of unidentified designs with cords and tassels, on a flagstaff with spearhead, above a cannon barrel, the muzzle end slanting upward behind the cuirass, in front of the drum, with two drumsticks and the fly end of the flag draped over the drumhead below, but partly in front of the cannon barrel, is a pile of three cannon balls. In the center is a Roman cuirass below a vertical unsheathed sword, point up, the pommel resting on the neck opening of the cuirass and a Phrygian cap supported on the sword point, all between, on the right an esponton and, on the left a musket with fixed bayonet crossed in saltire behind the cuirass and passing under the sword guard. The Army Institute of Heraldry defines the Seal in this fashion:

The center section of the Army flag is occupied by the Seal of the United States Army, which prior to 1947, it was known as the War Office Seal.

In 1955, the Secretary of the Army noticed that the Army was facing a problem during joint service ceremonies without a flag to celebrate, which led to the creation of the United States Army flag in 1956, approved by President Eisenhower. Before 1956, the United States Army was the only branch of the military without an official flag to decorate it.

What does the black flag represent