Show t faw A aay rs f jac t i i W r s jy ia f t 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON of the american flag as all of us do on june 14 which Is hag day and we naturally think of the national emblem with its thirteen butyl alternate red and white stripes and its 48 white stars on a field of bine but this flag which Is variously and affectionately known as old glory the stars and stripes and the star spangled banner Is not the only banner which calls for the respect and loyalty of all americans for there are some other american flags which have their place in our national tradition even though they are not so well known as the red and blue first of all there Is the presidents flag the personal banner of the chief executive of the nation some dav if you see flying from a short staff attached to the radiator cap of an automobile a blue flag with white and sellow silk fringe bearing the united states coat of arms in the center with four white stars in each corner of the flag you won t need the cheering of the crowds to tell you that the president of the united states Is riding in that car or if you see a flag of the same design with perhaps a slight difference as to the fringe floating over a house or snapping in the breeze from the bow of a ship it will bring the same mes aage that alie president Is in that Is riding on that ship but the president Is not the only high official who has his own per bonal flag if the secretary of war Is making an official visit there Is dis played a red flag bearing the united states coat of arms with some minor differences from that shown on the presidents flag and four white stars in the corners if its the secretary of the navy its a blue flag with a white anchor in the center and the four stars it its the secretary of the treasury you will see blue flag but the design an it Is even more complicated two crossed anchors are surrounded by a ring of thirteen white stars in front of alie intersection of the anchors Is a shield bearing in the top half a pair of scales of the balance type and in the lower half a key the symbolism of these Is of course clear the secretary of the treasury holds the key to the nations strongbox and from the earliest days the balance scales were used in weighing precious metals the secretary of commerce also has a blue flag with the four white stars but in the center Is a white shield at the top of which sails a three masted vessel and below a lighthouse casts Us beams abroad the presidential flag has had an interesting history insofar as the question of a proper design for it has resulted in a series of heated controversies trover sies over several points of heraldry involved lis history has been one long record of changes and restorations until finally in 1010 under president woodrow wilson there evolved the presidents flag as it Is today before that time ench dent had the right to select the design for his own flag and most of them did but the presidential flag used by president alson lias been used by chief executives since that time A distinctive flag for the president bad its origin in the navy on april 18 1805 gideon wells secretary of the navy lenued a set of naval regu latsons lat lons prescribing that on the oc caslon of the visit of the president on baird a man of war the american ensign should be displayed at alie main this was the first official order to designate a flag denoting the presence of the president aboard a national ship A change was made the next year when the rectangular union jack of dark blue bearing horizontal rows of white stars one for each beato was adopted as the presidents flag when on board a national vessel although this was the first distinctive flag for the president it was an unfortunate choice in the navy he union jack at the foremast Is a signal for pilot thus o 0 the of a ship with only one mast the display of the union jack might mean cither the president or the in the case of two master the signal would bp con rising i and since at that time n jack t the rigging was a signal of distress s a PATRIOTIC NEGLIGEE SI the photograph hows left to right elizabeth vivial with the secretary of wars flag helen appello with the cooledge flag mary devenny with old gefory helen bacque with the taft flag and anna corcoran with the loosevelt Hoo sevelt flag these presidential and army flags are all manufactured at the quartermasters depot in philadelphia its use for the president wag one complimentary to the highest officer la alie land in however the national ensign was again designated as the presidents hag and it remained thus until 1882 when william chandler secretary of the nay issued an order which was approved by president chester alan arthur that the flag of the president of the united states shall consist of a blue ground with afie arms of the united states in the center it was not until 16 years later however that the army followed the lead of the navy by adopting a distinctive flag for its commander in chief and when it did its action marked alie beginning of a series of control ercles which were to last for nearly two decades under a general order issued march 28 from the adjutant general s office by direction of the secretary of war the presidents flag for the army was descg bated as a flag of scarlet bunting with white stars in each of the four corners and an fn the middle of the field a large blue star outlined in white and bearing in the center the united states coat of arms around this can aral star were other white stars representing the stiles of the union during the spanish american war the army presidential flag was hung upon the wall of the cabinet room in the white house symbol lying the position of president mcanley as commander in chief of the army and was the first war flag of its lind that had thus ever been used but for some unknown reason the navy presidential flag which would symbolize his post alon as commander in chief of the navy was not thus displayed the army presidential flag was first ex publicly at the peace jubilee celebration in chicago in 1899 and again at a similar celebration in philadelphia later both the army and the daiy flags were twice hung in the main hallway of the white house during army and navy receptions but the army flag was neer hoisted until march 4 1001 when it flew over the presidential reviewing stand at the second of mckinley the first controversy over the presidential ident ial flag came up in 1899 the war department order cf 1898 had definitely directed that the official coat of arms on the central sta should be as determined by the state department and the referred to are those shown on the great seal of the united states which Is in the custody of the department of state the shield thereon had always dis played seven red and six white bars alternately red and white which was strictly in accordance with the act of congress of june 0 1782 establishing the great seal in 1899 when the equipment at ew york and mare island where flags for the navy are made were furnished their flag blohs for the year they called attention to the fact that the shield en the presidents flag erroneously displayed seven white and six red stripes instead of the reverse it was discovered that the design had been copied from a publication of the state department entitled the beal of the united states the matter was talan up 11 ly with the state department and ended with an admission from officials of that department that there was no logical reason for the reversal of the colors which was presumed to be the result of na heraldic license in 1002 the acting secretary of the navy issued a memorandum that the state department certifies eliat the shield has seven white and six red bars alternating walte and red and jt Is ordered that such shall be the seal on the presidents flag meanwhile the army continued to mabe its flag with the seven red and six white stripes on the shield in hio vember 1002 it was decided that f Cf tr something should be done to reconcile the differences in the design oa the shield A committee from the war department and the navy department called on president roosevelt and suggested that since other nations had but one flag tor its chief it was not consistent or our president to have two so it was decided to adopt a new flag closely patterned after the older navy flag but with several modifications A short time later orders were issued by the secretaries of the two departments that the colors on the shield as certified by the department seven white and six red bars be followed and on november 21 1902 it was officially announced that the controversy between alie two departments over the design of the presidents flag was at an end tha only other change was to make the eagle white heavily stitched in black despite the agreement however the flags used by the two br inches of the service were not set the same true both used the same device as to alio eagle and the shield but the navy clung to its blue field and the army to its red field it was not until the next administration eliat decided steps towards uniformity were taken on june 24 1912 and again on october 29 1912 president taft issued executive orders that the color of the field of the president s flag shall be blue but the army did not immediately con form and a difficult situation arose at the inaugural ceremonies of president allson in starch 1913 the reviewing box in front of the white house was decorated with two presidents flags provided by the war department and the isaly department the isaly departments was blue but the war was red this revived the old control ersy and when again in 1915 there a double display of colors the matter assumed a serious aspect it was pointed out to president allson that an agreement should be made and a standard flag adopted for both branches of the sen ice the president called in lieutenant commander byron mccandless alde to the secretary of the navy and requested him to prepare a design for the presidential standard the new flag was to consist of a blue field with four white stars in the corners since the flags of an admiral and of a general bear four stars as a sign of command and the president Is the highest admiral and general instead of an exact re product on of the great seal president allson expressed a desire to have his personal seal a modification of the great seal used on the presidents stationery in the white house on he flag this seal differs from the great seal in that the eagles head Is tinned to the sinister its left and the stars above the eagle are differently arranged the new design was prepared by the bureau of construction and repair under the direction of commander mccandless and was approved by the president in an executive order dated may 20 so at last the con troverse tro versy was ended and a presidents flag uniform for both branches of the service came into being but though the army gayy controversy over the presidents flag was thus ended are those who are not yet satisfied with the presidents flag they point out the fact that the seven white and six red bars on the even though it doea have the endorsement indorsement Indor of the state department is not in conformity with the arrangement of these colors as prescribed itt the net of congress of june 20 1782 adopting the graat seal of the united states nor as prescribed by the act of congress of april 4 1818 prescribing alternating red and white stripes in establishing the american flag but more serious that this according to heraldry experts Is the fact that on the presidents aln the eagle head Is turned towards the sinister that Is away from alic flag pole it Is one of the ancient rules of heraldry they say that no bird or animal ever look away from the staff for if such a flag Is carried into battle the head thus turned would roal e it look as though the bird were retreating from the enemy on all other flags on which the eagle appears its head al ways faces the staff regardless of flag one looks at f aw fv pw 4 |