THE PINE-TREE FLAG AND OTHERS
In some of the colonies at least, the people must have led a rather
somber life, with little pleasure, much hard work, and much
discomfort; but they fairly reveled in flags. The Indians in their
warfare preferred to hide behind trees rather than to flourish
banners, and the white men soon learned to follow their example.
Nevertheless, it always seemed to the minds of the colonists a little
irregular and out of place not to carry a flag of some sort when they
were setting out on an expedition.
Probably we do not know one in twenty of all the designs for banners
that entered the fertile minds of these colonists, but they were so
numerous that if they had all been displayed at the same time, they
would have almost hidden the settlements. Not all colonists were as
afraid of a cross as were the good folk of Salem. In Newbury,
Massachusetts, a certain company of foot rejoiced in a flag of vivid
green. In the upper corner next the staff was a square of white
containing a red cross. The kindly councilor, who had ordered the flag
to be made in England "with all convenient speed," evidently had some
sense of humor, for he wrote at the end of his letter to the company,
"The number of bullets to be put into your colors for distinction may
be left out at present without damage in the making of them." Another
flag, belonging to a company of Massachusetts cavalry, seems to have
been something quite out of the common, for it was of damask and silk
and adorned with silver fringe. A real artist must have used his brush
upon it, for the bill read, "For painting in oyle on both sides a
Cornett on rich crimson damask, with a hand and sword and invelloped
with a scarfe about the arms of gold, black and silver"; and for all
that gorgeousness, generously painted "on both sides," the charge was
the moderate one of £5 2_s._ 6_d._ This was made for what was known as
the "Three County Troop," composed of cavalry from Essex, Middlesex,
and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts, and was probably used in King
Philip's War.
Now, wherever a discoverer planted the sole of his foot, he took
possession for his sovereign of all the land in sight and all the land
which joined that land. Naturally, the claims of the colonies soon
conflicted. The good folk of New England made an alliance to defend
themselves against the Dutch, Swedes, and French. They managed to be
good allies for forty years without a flag. Then came one brilliant
enough to make up for the delay, and sent to them across the sea by no
less a man than King James II himself. This was of white with a St.
George's cross of red. In the center of the cross was a golden crown and
under it the King's monogram in black. A few years later matters in
England had changed. King James II had proved to be a very poor sort of
sovereign, and it was made clear to him that for his health and
comfort--possibly for his head--it would be wise for him to leave the
country. This he did in alarm and at full speed, tossing the royal seal
into the Thames on his way. It is small wonder that New Englanders
preferred a new flag. The only marvel is that they waited so long a time
before getting it. When it was finally chosen, it proved to be red with
a white canton or union cut by a red St. George's cross into four
squares. In one of these squares was the representation of a pine tree.
This representation can hardly have been a work of art, for one
historian says unkindly of it that it "no more resembled a pine tree
than a cabbage." Evidently the brave colonists were not artists.
Nevertheless, even if the good folk of Massachusetts could not draw a
pine tree, they were fond of it, and their General Court decreed that it
should be stamped upon the coins minted in that colony. Now it was the
right of the King to coin money, and when Charles II heard that the
ambitious colonists were making it for themselves, he was not pleased.
"But it is only for their own use," said a courtier who favored the
colonies, and taking a New England coin from his pocket, he showed it to
the King. "What tree is that?" demanded the aggrieved monarch. "That,"
said the quick-witted courtier, "is the royal oak which saved Your
Majesty's life." "Well, well," said the King, "those colonists are not
so bad after all. They're a parcel of honest dogs!" Perhaps they were,
even if their likenesses of pine trees could not be distinguished from
cabbages and oaks. Hawthorne's story, "The Pine-Tree Shillings," is
written about this inartistic coinage.
So the story of the flags went on. Besides the English flag every
little company of militia had its standard. One flag bore a hemisphere
in the corner in place of a pine tree, and another bore nothing but a
tree. The colonists did not trouble themselves about being artistic or
choosing colors of any special significance; if the ground of the flag
was of one color and the cross or whatever other figure was chosen was
of another, they were satisfied. Charleston, South Carolina, had a
specially elegant flag--blue with a silver crescent--to use on
"dress-up" days. After a time even the Indians were sometimes
furnished with flags, for one kindly governor gave them a Union Jack
as a protection. He presented them also with a red flag to indicate
war and a white one as a sign of peace; and probably the fortunate
Indians felt with all this magnificence quite like white folk.
In 1745, when that remarkable expedition of New Englanders--which had
"a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers,
fishermen, and mechanics for soldiers"--set off to capture Louisburg
from the French, they sailed proudly away under a flag whereon was
written in Latin, "Never despair, for Christ is our leader." It was on
this same expedition that a new flag was hoisted, the like of which
was never seen before. An officer discovered that a battery on the
shore of the harbor was apparently vacant. There was no flag flying
from the staff and no smoke rising from the chimney. It looked as if
that battery might be taken easily. On the other hand it was also
quite possible that this was a ruse and was meant to decoy the
colonists within. The officer concluded to run the risk--of losing the
life of some one else. Holding up a bottle of brandy before the
thirsty gaze of an Indian, he said, "If I give you this, will you
creep in at that embrasure and open the gate?" The red man grunted
assent, crept in, and opened the gate. Then the officer and twelve men
took possession. Soon a message went from the officer to his general
as follows: "May it please your honor to be informed that by the grace
of God and the courage of thirteen men, I entered the royal battery
about nine o'clock, and am awaiting for a reinforcement and a flag."
Sometimes the colonists were wanting in the grace of patience, and
this was one of the occasions. A soldier, tired of delay, decided
that, although he could not provide reinforcements, he could provide a
flag; so up the staff he clambered with a red coat in his teeth. He
nailed it to the top of the staff, and it swung out in the wind, much
to the alarm of the citizens, who sent one hundred men in boats to
recapture the battery. The hundred men fired, but the brave little
company kept them from landing and held their position till the
general could send help.