Flag

American. The early flags of the American colonies were, of course, the flags of the mother country. Various colonies had a local device. Massachusetts, for example, placed a pine tree on her flag. No general desire to change the British flag appeared until immediately preceding the American Revolution. In 1775 an American flag was adopted by Congress, combining the cross of St. George and that of St. Andrew with thirteen stripes, alternate red and white. The cross of St. Patrick did not appear in this flag because it did not appear in the British flag until 1801, the year of the union with Ireland.

In his defense of Fort Jackson Colonel Moultrie hung out a large blue flag with a crescent in one corner. During the summer of 1775 a signal was devised for American cruisers. It was a white flag with a pine tree in the center. February, 1776, Colonel Jackson presented Congress an elegant standard for the use of the commander-in-chief of the American navy. This was a yellow flag with a lively rattlesnake in the middle in the attitude of striking, and the words underneath, "Don't tread on me." Various flags were used by the colonials at the battle of Bunker Hill. June 14, 1777, Congress resolved "That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternately red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." The blue field was taken from the Covenanters' banner of Scotland, being likewise significant of the covenant into which the colonies entered against oppression. The stars were disposed in a circle, symbolizing perpetuity of union, the circle being the sign of eternity. The thirteen stripes showed, with the stars, the number of united colonies. The whole was a blending of various flags used previously.

The size of the flag of the American army is 4 feet 6 inches in length, and 4 feet 4 inches in width, with 7 red stripes and 6 white ones. The first 7 stripes, 4 red and 3 white, bound the square of the blue field for the stars. With the admission of Vermont and Kentucky Congress added two stripes and two stars, and this was the flag during the War of 1812. On the 4th of April, 1818, Congress directed a return to thirteen stripes as follows:

Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the 4th day of July next the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white, in a blue field.

And be it further enacted. That on the admission of a new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the 4th of July next succeeding such admission.

The first official flag of the United States was constructed at the home of Mrs. Ross, a dressmaker, in Philadelphia, under the direction of Gen. Washington and a congressional committee appointed for the purpose. The committee was for stars of six points, but Mrs. Ross suggested that the stars would be more pleasing to the eye if made with five points. Her suggestion was adopted. It is interesting to know that Mrs. Ross pleased the committee so well that she was solicited to undertake the manufacture of flags for the government, a business which descended to her children. The Old Flag House, as her home was called, stands in Arch Street. It has been converted into a flag museum.

The United States navy department maintains a flag factory at the navy yard of Brooklyn. About 50,000 flags are made yearly, including some 300 patterns--domestic and foreign. The largest flag is ensign No. 1. It is 36 feet long and 19 wide. It costs $40. The president's flag is embroidered with silk worth $9 a pound. In order to be equipped to show proper courtesy to foreign ships, an American battle-ship carries forty-three different foreign flags, all made in this factory. It costs $38 to make the white elephant flag of Siam, and $51.75 to make the dragon flag of China. A full equipment of flags, ensigns, and signals includes 250 separate flags. A set is worth $2,500, and is supposed to be renewed each three years. The factory is fitted up with machinery. Including material and wages the factory costs our government $60,000 a year.

The thirteen stripes are named for the thirteen original colonies in the order in which they ratified the Constitution. Named from the top, they are Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. The star representing a state may be found by counting. The first star in the upper left hand corner, where one would begin to read, shines for Delaware. The fourteenth star by count represents Vermont; the thirty-ninth, following line by line, as one would read, belongs to North Dakota. The last star, the forty-sixth, is that of Oklahoma. As new states and stars are added, a new arrangement is made, so that position changes.

A few other terms should be remembered. To strike the flag is to haul it down in token of surrender; to dip is to lower slightly and run up again in honor of a passing ship or dignitary; to display at half mast is to run the flag half way up the flag pole and leave it there as a sign of mourning. By usage, a white flag signifies surrender and is also the flag of truce; a red flag, mutiny; a black flag, piracy; and a yellow flag, quarantine.

See Tricolor; Union Jack; Crescent