Francis Hopkinson represented New Jersey at the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.
Francis Hopkinson was a member of the New Jersey Provincial Council, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar, but he resigned his crown-appointed positions in 1776. He represented New Jersey in the Second Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Hopkinson claimed credit for designing the American flag, but the evidence for his claim is not clear. Allegedly, he billed Congress for his design, but they did not pay the bill. Tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted in June 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment, between Martinsville and Bound Brook, New Jersey.
After the Revolutionary War, Hopkinson was an active advocate, in speaking and in writing, for the New Federal constitution. He was commissioned a Judge of Admiralty in Pennsylvania, and was appointed as one of the first Federal District Judges for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.