The Liberty flag was designed, by commission, in 1775 by Colonel William Moultrie, to prepare for war with Great Britain.

Fighting back during a ten-hour bombardment and siege, Moultrie's forces (primarily the 2nd South Carolina Regiment) eventually led the British to withdraw, saving Charleston for the Patriot cause.

During the battle, the flag was shot away, but Sergeant William Jasper ran out in the open and hoisted it again, rallying the troops until a new stand could be provided.

It therefore became the standard of the South Carolina Patriot militia, and when the war ended with the liberation of Charleston, on December 14, 1782, it was presented by General Nathanael Greene's "Southern Continental & Militia Army," as the first American flag to be displayed in the South.

The flag is flown by the USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) to honor the ship's namesake Paul Hamilton, a South Carolinian who was a Revolutionary War soldier, the United States’ third Secretary of the Navy, and the 42nd governor of South Carolina.