Many questions have reached us from subscribers and friends concerning
the meaning and reason for the stars and stripes on the United States
flag, and how the United States came to choose the colors and design of
the flag.
Early in Revolutionary times, each colony had its own flag, and they
were very varied in design, and some had strange designs. The colony of
Massachusetts had a pine-tree on its flag. South Carolina had a
rattlesnake on a yellow flag, and underneath the snake the motto: "Don't
tread on me." New York had a white flag with a beaver on it; and Rhode
Island a white flag with a blue anchor.
Many variations of the "stars and stripes" are found in the flags used
during the first years of the Revolution. Some have red and white
stripes, with the field (where the stars are in the flag we all know)
like the field of the British flag--red, white, and blue lines crossing
one another. This design in the corner of a flag is called its "jack,"
and is often used alone.
In 1777, Congress declared that the flag should have thirteen horizontal
stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field, each representing one
of the thirteen States. The idea of the adoption of the grouping of
stars and stripes was doubtless taken from the arms of the Washington
family, which consisted of a white shield with two horizontal red bars,
and above these three red stars.
It was the original intention to add a stripe and a star for each state
admitted to the Union, and the grouping of the equal stripes was
supposed to represent the unity of the Federation. In 1792 the stars and
the stripes were both increased to fifteen on account of the admission
to the Union of the States of Vermont and Kentucky, and, after this,
others were added. In 1818, Congress decided to return to the original
thirteen stripes, and to add a star for each new State, which plan has
been followed since. The three colors, red, white, and blue, symbolize
valor, purity, and truth.
The United States has but one national flag, which is flown alike on
buildings, men-of-war, and merchant vessels, and to us Americans its
purity and beauty appeal strongly.
A number of the foreign nations have different flags, known as the royal
standard, the war flag, and the merchant flag. For instance, Spain has
the three. The colors of Spain are red and yellow. The navy flag
consists of three horizontal stripes--yellow in the middle, and a
narrower red band at top and bottom. On the yellow band near the staff
is a coat of arms surmounted by a crown. The merchant flag is made up of
five horizontal stripes--a yellow in middle, a narrow red, then a narrow
yellow, and then a broad red above and below. The colors, red and
yellow, were the colors of the royal house of Aragon, whose fortunes
were closely allied with the Spanish crown. The royal standard of Spain
is an elaborate affair, divided into four parts, containing the heraldic
arms of leading families of Spain, and many devices indicating the
control of Spain over countries which it once held sway over, but which
have long since been lost to her, as Holland, Portugal, etc.
France uses the "tricolor," a flag of three vertical equal stripes, red,
white, and blue, the blue being nearest the staff. France has undergone
many political changes, and this, the flag of the Republic, was adopted
in 1789.
Germany's national flag has a white ground, divided into four parts by
black lines--one broad black line and a narrow one on each side. At the
centre is a circle containing the Prussian crowned eagle. The upper
quarter, by the staff, is divided into three equal horizontal stripes,
black, white, and red, and on these is a Maltese cross--the iron cross
of Germany.
The German merchant flag has red, white, and black horizontal stripes.
Flags have grown by custom and international law to represent
nationality. If they are insulted the insult is to the nation. In war
they are protected by lives, and in peace they pass around the world, or
float from their staffs on land--marks of their nation's strength and
supremacy.
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