Show 0 of abke JL aya canue air aind tripe 7 n V y k X MW M R N D W 1 V k ELMO SCOTT WATSON UNE 14 Is nag day and it recalls the fac that on that date in 1777 the continental congress resolved that vill n the flag of united states n be thirteen stripes alternate red and a white that the union be thirteen stars white in a blue f beld depre renting a new constellation thus it was that the new emblem of the nation came into official existence were born but contrary to the belief of many americans this does not mean that our national banner sprang full grown into being from the brain of one man or one group of men on that june day years ago the truth Is that our flag like so many other american institutions and by symbols developed by a gradual evolution and derived its inspiration from sources as varied as the strains of blood which have been fused into making the typical american the real origin of our national flag goes back to the banner which was flown by the expedition that discovered the north american continent this was the simple banner of st georges cross in red on a white field the old flag of england it was carried by the expedition of giovanni Giovan nt cabot or as he be Is more familiarly known john cabot the italian navigator exploring for england who discovered the north american continent in 1497 sailing along the east coast for 1000 miles he laid the foundation of english claims to north america the flag was borne later by capt john smiths ships to the settlement t at jamestown va in 1607 and alid again by the mayflower to the plymouth settlement in 1020 1620 next in the line of descent comes the kings colors or the union jack designed in agog symbolizing bol izing the union of england and scotland after king james took the throne of the united kingdoms in 1603 this union was represented in the english flag by imposing the english red cross of st george on the scottish white diagonal cross of st andrew on a field of blue there are records of the use of this flag on forts in this country in 1070 1049 and and this ensign was required in all british dominions by a parliamentary act of 1707 the term union jack was probably derived from king james signing documents in the french jacques the pronunciation of which Is not unlike jack the union came to be applied to that part of our national flag carrying the stars in fact when this part of the flag Is flown alone on bows of ships it Is called the union jack or simply jack three flags that had an early influence on the design of the stars and stripes were the striped flags of the dutch republic the dutch it will be remembered first colonized new netherlands before it became new york this territory included new york new jersey pennsylvania and delaware settlements in these states were made by dutch colonists under their flags that of the dutch west india co with three stripes of orange white and blue the united states of neth erlands arlands er lands with six stripes lies of red white and blue and the rotterdam flag of green and white stripes the english east india company finally crowded the dutch out of sea trade and this company brought a new flag to america a nine or ten striped banner of alternating red and white stripes with a small st georges cross of red in the upper corner next to the staff one of the variations in this flag was waa a pine tree or globe representing the new world in the upper left quarter of the union formed by the arms of the st george cross in some flags of this period the pine tree replaced the st george cross entirely with the revolution the struggling colonists wanted something different from a british flag and an d the pine tree and rattlesnake emblems appeared also the legend liberty and union on a plain fly of red then came the stars and stripes when washington left philadelphia in 1775 to take command of the army at cambridge he be was escorted out of the cit city v by the philadelphia troop of light horse as far as newark N J the guidon of this troop was of yellow silk and carried in its upper corner next nest to the staff a small union of 13 stripes of sliver silver and light blue stars first figured in the union of a flag carried in 1775 on the schooner lee by captain manley a massachusetts skipper whose ship operated as one of commodore 13 squadron and captured the nancy with for the british army november 39 10 1775 5 thirteen stars on 11 blue canton formed the union of its flag they were arranged in five horizontal parallel rows and were five fire pointed in the blue fly of tho the flag was a white anchor with the word hope above it this design was carried by rhode island troops at brandywine trenton and yorktown but the stars were of gilt on a light blue canton following the early use of the english ensign which carried the st georges cross in the canton there came into ue in the colonies in the eight 71 I 1 the stars and stripes Forever Po reverl lP reproduction of the famous picture painted by henry mosier the british evacuating new york after the yorktown surrender in 1781 nailed mailed the british flag to the ahe flagstaff at the 13 battery and then greased creased the pole A barefoot sailor boy volunteered to climb up take down the enemy flag and nail the american flag to the pole from the winning of freedom in the pageant of america courtesy yale university erss P 2 the pine tree flag of early revolutionary war days 3 the rattlesnake flag of the early american navy A 4 the 13 star flag one of the earliest forms after the flag resolution of june 14 1777 5 the 15 star 15 stripe flag the form used after vermont and kentucky were admitted dmit ted to the union 6 flag of the sixth regiment of the united states marines note no 2 to 6 inclusive are flags in the exhibit of the united states marine corps in the federal building at A century of progress chicago photographs by hack miller benth century the red british eign carrying the union jack in the canton the british lag flag was wag altered after the revolution had begun by placing 13 stripes in the fly of the flag under the british union jack it was called the grand union flag and was holsted li by john paul jones on december 13 3 1775 in the newly formed american fleet off philadelphia on january 1 or 2 1776 it was raised over 01 er the newly organized american army at tons headquarters in cambridge in the correspondence of that day it was referred to ns as the american colors it is interesting to note that although these liese american colors were used six months before the declaration of independence they still carried the british union jack in the corner the thirteen united col colonies onles were depleted depicted by the thirteen stripes of the field no flag was authorized by act of congress until nearly a year after the declaration of independence pen dence that the grand union flag was little littie used in the army Is seen from the many flags of other designs carried by the revolutionary troops in the navy on account of the necessity of telling a friend from a foe by his colors the same flag was generally used by all al congress ships in 1775 it was usually the pine tree nag flag in 1776 and until june jane 14 1777 the grand union and after june 14 1777 the stars and stripes privateers carried striped and rattlesnake flags of various designs but it soon became necessary to carry a uniform design and this forced the a adoption of a national flag this Is why the resolution for the adoption of the stars and stripes appeared in the minutes or of the marine committee meeting of june 14 1777 because green was such a prominent color in early revolutionary war flags it would not have been at all surprising it if that color had found its way into the national emblem one of the most striking flags of the revolution was a flag with green fly and a union of 13 links in an endless chain outside the circle or of links was a circle of 13 hands or br mailed fists emerging from clouds and grasping the links in thi the center benfer of the chain was a pine tree of green on a blue field this was the flag of the newburyport mass masef company green was also the color of the pine tree and liberty tree flags of revolutionary days in april the massachusetts council prescribed green and white nhue as the uniform of cers cera in their sea service and in the same year the marine committee or of the continental congress 9 ress in philadelphia resolved that the uniform of marine officers be a agreen groan coat white waist coat and breeches edged with green green was the color of the early revolutionary caval rys uniform marions riders wearing the romanesque helmet of the french dragoons and cukras and a green skirted tunic with white revers similar to that of the french guides cavalry whose uniform the first napoleon was somewhat partial to wearing it quite frequently the culpepper minute men lien v wore ore green hunting shirts and the standard of the georgia rangers in the latter part of the war carried green and white stripes when it came to adopting the stars and stripes however the color scheme of green was dropped and parlous flags of red white and blue that had been familiar to american colonists for more than years exercised the prevailing influence in the design for the stars and stripes the resolution adopting the flag appears in the journal of congress among a whole page of resolutions presented by the marine committee on the subject of the navy on the same page with the flag and other marine committee resolutions Is one appointing jolin john i paul jones joner to the command of the ship ranger ra nger jones was presented a flag by some women of philadelphia and soon afterward he had the stars and stripes flying at sea contemporary illustrations of jones ships and the description of the new flag when it appeared in europe show that the early navy flags were arranged with the stars in horizontal parallel rows due to their number the stars were staggered that Is the stars in one row were placed opposite the spaces between the stars in the next so that they looked like a constellation in the heavens as the resolution had described them on one ship they were in five rows on another in three ingenuity began to be displayed in the arrangement of stars in unofficial flags in some they were arranged in a square in others in a circle some had them in the shape of a single star a diamond or forming the letters U S 11 at first the stars and stripes were looked upon merely as a navy flag but in 1818 under the third flag law the present general design of the flag was established this hold the number or of stripes to 13 and added a star for each state the second flag law passed by congress in slay may 1795 provided 15 stripes for 15 states as well as 15 stars but as the number of states was increasing by 1818 it was found necessary to curtail the amount of stripes capt samuel chester reid of the ravy navy hero of a two day engagement between his small brig and a british squadron of three large ships was called by the congressional committee to design a flag and it was his idea to hold the number of red and white stripes to 13 for the original 33 13 states and to add a star to the union for each new state admitted on may 18 1818 the navy commissioners issued fin an order placing the stars in accordance with the navy custom in parallel horizontal rows and with the stars on the second and fourth rows moved to the right one half of a stars space the order was signed by commodore Commodor john rogers president or of the navy commissioners six months later he issued a change in the arrangement ran gement of the stars approved by the president this order required that the stars be arranged in vertical and horizontal parallel rows the act of 1818 2818 gave gae the fixed rule of adding addin g a new star on the fourth of july next succeeding the admission of the state but made no statement as to the exact arrangement of the stars and this has been a matter with which the navy 1 avy department has been chiefly concerned this is because the navy flies files the union alone without the be stripes in the ho bow of ships hips r the navy lias has attended to details as to proportions and design of the flag and still issues to all d departments e part ments blueprints of changes after approve approval 1 by the president in recent years army and navy have agreed on changes in 1834 tle the army prescribed the he stars and stripes to replace its garrison flag then in use nse until 1012 there wat was some confusion as to the proper distribution of the 48 stars in the blue field on october 28 20 1012 this matter was definitely settled by the executive order of pres pies ident taft that the stars were to be arranged in six rows of eight each symbolizing the 48 states lu in the order of their ratification thas thus it if you ou wish to know which star represents your state in the flag remember what was its ita number in the order of admission to the union then begin counting from the upper corner next to tho the staff and the star which comes on the number correspond corresponding ln to the number in the order of admission to the union will be the star of 0 your state t 0 by western lettero new raper union |