THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
"Time makes ancient good uncouth," said Lowell, and so it was with the
flag. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes that was decreed
in 1795 then represented each State; but in less than one year it was
out of date. Tennessee had come into the Union. Then followed Ohio,
Louisiana, and Indiana. Here were four States with no representation
in the colors of the country. Then, too, people began to realize that
in giving up the thirteen stripes they had lost their old significant
"Thirteen," and dropped a valuable historical association. At length
the matter came before Congress, and for nearly sixteen months it
remained there. Occasionally there was some little discussion about
it. One member proposed that the matter be postponed indefinitely.
"Are you willing to neglect the banner of freedom?" demanded another.
Yet another thought it unnecessary to insist upon thirteen stripes,
and thought they might as well fix upon nine or eleven or any other
arbitrary number as thirteen. The committee pleaded for the
significant thirteen, and so it went on. At length Peter H. Wendover,
of New York, through whose efforts Congress was held to its duty,
called the attention of the House to the fact that the Government
itself was paying no respect to its own laws in regard to the flag;
that the law demanded fifteen stripes, but that Congress was at that
moment displaying a banner of thirteen stripes; that the navy yard and
the marine barracks were flying flags of eighteen stripes; and that
during the first session of the preceding Congress the flag floating
over their deliberations had had, from some unknown cause or other,
only nine stripes.
It is small wonder that after such an arraignment as this the
lawmakers aroused themselves. The following bill was passed, and was
signed by President Monroe, April 4, 1818:--
SECTION 1. _Be it enacted, etc._, That from and after the fourth
day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen
horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have
twenty stars, white in a blue field.
SECTION 2. _Be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every
new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the
flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of
July next succeeding such admission.
So it was that the flag of the United States was finally decided upon.
Captain S. C. Reid designed it, and his wife made a specimen flag,
which was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives a
few days after the law legalizing it was passed. Forty-one years
later, in 1859, Congress formally thanked Captain Reid. The one weak
point in this law was that the arrangement of the stars on the blue
field was left to the taste of the owner of the flag. Captain Reid
arranged them in one large star; but it was evident that if this plan
was continued, as new States were admitted, the stars would become too
small to be seen distinctly. The Navy Commissioners issued the order
that in naval flags the stars should be arranged in five rows, four
stars in a row; but for many years merchant vessels paid small
attention to this decree. Indeed, in 1837 the Dutch Government
inquired, with all respect, "What is the American flag?" Twenty years
later an observant man in Jersey City amused himself on the Fourth of
July by noting the numerous fashions in which the stars were arranged.
He said that all flags had the thirteen stripes--though not always in
the proper order--but that he had counted nine different fashions in
which the stars were arranged. They appeared in one large star, in a
lozenge, a diamond, or a circle, and one vessel in the river flaunted
an anchor formed of stars. It was suggested that Congress ought to
order some regular arrangement, but Congress did not take the hint.
The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in
1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars,
now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each.
This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by
Congress.
Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land.
Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm;
it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to
endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make
bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been
tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865,
however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting,
and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in
the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the
lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to
work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in
Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in
the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first
time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a
banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the
tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since
the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy
has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and
must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail.
Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the
stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the
canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the
staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached.
Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in
the navy, but these are made entirely by hand.
A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign
countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags
are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment
of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because
the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in
bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War Department buys what
are needed. Manufacturers make large numbers for general sale; between
nine and ten million a year even in times of peace.
The pet name, "Old Glory," is believed to have been given to the flag
by Captain William Driver. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, became
a shipmaster, and at length made his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
When the Civil War broke out, he stood boldly by the Union, even
though his own family were against him. More than thirty years before
this date, just as he was starting on a voyage, some of his friends
made him a present of a handsome American flag. When the breeze first
caught it and spread out its folds, Captain Driver exclaimed, "Old
Glory!" and "Old Glory" it was to him all the years of his life. The
flag went to Tennessee with him, and was hung out on every day of
public rejoicing. When the war broke out, his Confederate neighbors
tried their best to get possession of that flag; but they did not
realize the resources of the old captain. Sailors know how to sew, and
he had carefully quilted his beloved banner into his comforter. No
wonder that he had not the least objection to having his house
searched for it. When the Union troops entered the city, Captain
Driver asked permission to run up his flag over the State Capitol.
This was granted, and with an escort he marched to the building and
ran up the flag. As he stood gazing at it with tears in his eyes, he
said, "I have always said that if I could see it float over that
Capitol, I should have lived long enough; now Old Glory is up there,
gentlemen, and I am ready to die." The captain's own particular "Old
Glory" was full of years and weakened by service, and on the following
day he reverently took it down and ran up a flag that was new and
strong. For a quarter of a century he saw the Union flag float over
the Capitol of his chosen State. Then, at his death in 1886, his own
"Old Glory" was sent to the Essex Institute at his birthplace.
CHAPTER XI
THE FLAG IN WAR
"Old Glory" has flown over the battle-fields of three wars; the
Mexican, the Civil War, and the war with Spain. In the war with Mexico
victory depended upon taking the City of Mexico, and the path to that
lay in the capture of the strong castle of Chapultepec. Long before
sunrise one bright September morning, the American guns began to roar.
All day long the Americans fired from below and the Mexicans from
above. Fortunately for the attackers, the aim of the Mexicans was
anything but accurate, and in twenty-four hours the American troops
were pushing forward up the hillside, through a grove full of
sharpshooters, over rocks and gullies, even over mines, which the
Mexicans had no chance to set off. Cannon roared and volleys of
musketry were fired at the assailants, but they dashed over the
redoubt, up, still up, to the escarpment, and over it they tumbled.
Meanwhile the Mexicans were standing on the city walls and peering out
from the spires of the cathedral. They saw, as the Americans pushed on
and up, the Stars and Stripes appear, now to the right, now to the
left, as point after point was taken. Now the Americans had reached
the main works. The scaling-ladders were planted and the men scrambled
over the wall. Even then the Mexicans were not without a faint hope,
for their banner still floated over the highest pinnacle. Suddenly it
disappeared, and the Stars and Stripes took its place. The victory had
been won. On the second day after the first gun was fired at
Chapultepec, the American troops were following their flag into the
City of Mexico.
The Civil War began with the firing upon Fort Sumter. Shot came in a
whirlwind, half a score of balls at a time. The woodwork blazed, the
brick and stone flew in all directions. Red-hot balls from the furnace
in Moultrie dashed down like a pitiless hailstorm. The barracks were
ablaze, streams of fire burst out of the quarters. Ninety barrels of
powder were rolled into the water lest it should explode in the awful
heat. The men were stifled with fumes from the burning buildings. Over
the horrors of this attack the Stars and Stripes floated serenely from
the staff, flashing out, as each gust of wind tossed the clouds of
smoke aside for a moment, the glories of the red, white, and blue,
clear and calm and unscathed.
Beams fell with a crash, ammunition in one magazine exploded, black
clouds of smoke filled the fort, and for hours the men covered their
faces with wet cloths to keep from suffocating. Nine times the
flagstaff was struck by a shot, and at the ninth the flag fell.
Lieutenant Hall dashed into the storm of balls, caught up the flag,
and brought it away. The halyards were cut and tangled. The flag could
not be raised, but it was nailed to the staff, and in the midst of the
incessant fire, Sergeant Peter Hart fastened it up on the ramparts.
The fort surrendered, but not the flag; for as Major Anderson and his
men left the burning ruins, they saluted "Old Glory" with fifty guns,
then lowered it, and, as the Major stated to the Government, "marched
out of the fort with colors flying and drums beating."
This was on April 14, 1861. On April 14, 1865, when the war was
virtually over, Major Anderson, now General Anderson, was, by order of
President Lincoln, called to Fort Sumter to raise again the flag which
he had so unwillingly lowered. A special steamer carried from New York
to the fort a number of prominent citizens. Hundreds came from
elsewhere by land to Charleston and were taken to the fort by vessel.
Two hundred officers of the navy were present and many army officers.
After the opening exercises, Sergeant Hart opened a big carpetbag and
drew forth the identical flag that had been hauled down four years
earlier. The banner was unfurled, the assemblage cheered to the echo,
and slowly the beloved banner rose to its old position, every one
trying his best to catch hold of the rope and help raise it. Hats were
waved and the old fort rang with cheers. The band struck up "The
Star-Spangled Banner." A salute was fired by the guns on Fort Sumter,
and this was responded to by every fort and battery that had fired
upon Sumter in April, 1861. Henry Ward Beecher, orator of the day,
made a thrilling address. Of the flag he said:--
There flies the same flag that was insulted. In the storm of
that assault this glorious ensign was often struck; but,
memorable fact, not one of its stars was torn out, by shot or
shell. It was a prophecy.... Lifted to the air, to-day it
proclaims, after four years of war, "Not a State is blotted out!"
Hail to the flag of our fathers, and our flag! Glory to the
banner that has gone through four years black with tempests of
war, to pilot the nation back to peace without dismemberment!
And glory be to God, who, above all hosts and banners, hath
ordained victory, and shall ordain peace!... In the name of God,
we lift up our banner, and dedicate it to Peace, Union and
Liberty, now and forevermore.
A few years later General Anderson died. He was buried at West Point
and was carried to his grave wrapped in the flag that he had defended
so bravely. On the death of his wife the flag passed by her gift into
the hands of the War Department.
One of the most interesting flags of the recent war with Spain was
borne by the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry. A
squadron of men for this regiment left Phoenix, Arizona, on their way
to the field of war. It was noticed that they had no flag. The women
of the Relief Corps attached to the Grand Army of the Republic took
the matter in hand, for if this was not a case where relief was
needed, where should one be found?
Night and day were the same to these energetic women. They bought silk
and they sewed, all day and all night. The stores of Phoenix did not
provide just the right sort of cord, so the staff of the battle-flag
was daintily adorned with a knot of satin ribbon, red, white, and
blue. Then the flag was carried to camp, and presented with all
courtesy and dignity to the two hundred men who were to form a part of
the First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, better
known as the "Rough Riders."
The little silken flag came to glories that it had not dreamed of, for
the regular bunting flags were scarce, and therefore it held the most
prominent place in parades and was even set up as guest of honor
before the tent of Colonel Leonard Wood. In the attack on Santiago,
the little party that first landed at Daiquiri, a small town on the
coast a few miles from the city, carried the flag with them. On a
transport in the harbor an officer from Arizona, observing the troops
climb the hill, had seen the raising of the flag and discovered with a
glass what it was. As the story is told:--
He threw his hat to the deck, jumped to the top of the bulwark,
and yelled: "Howl, you Arizona men,--it's our flag up there!"
And the men howled as only Arizona cowboys could. Some one on
the hurricane deck grabbed the whistle cord and tied it down,
the band of the Second Infantry whisked up instruments and
played "A Hot Time" on the inspiration of the moment, and every
man who had a revolver emptied it over the side. Almost in an
instant every whistle of the fifty transports and supply vessels
in the harbor took up the note of rejoicing. Twenty thousand men
were cheering. A dozen bands increased the din. Then guns of the
warships on the flanks joined in a mighty salute to the flag of
the Nation. And the flag was the flag of the Arizona squadron.
The Arizona flag led the regiment in the fight of Las Guasimas,
where three thousand intrenched Spaniards were driven back by
nine hundred unmounted cavalry; it was at the front all through
the heat of the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill; it
waved over the trenches before Santiago, and was later borne
through the captured city to the transport.
CHAPTER XII
THE FLAG IN PEACE
One of the greatest achievements of our flag in peace was the opening
of Japan. In 1852 Commodore M. C. Perry was sent with a letter from
President Fillmore to prepare the way for a treaty of peace and
friendship and commerce with Japan. Its delivery was a matter of much
ceremony. After a long delay a day was set for its reception. When the
time had come, the officers in full uniform, the marines in blue and
white, the sailors in navy blue and tarpaulins, and last of all the
Commodore entered the boats. As the Commodore stepped into his barge,
a salute of thirteen guns was given. Then the two bands struck up
lively tunes and the boats made for the shore.
Along the beach were ranged nine tall crimson standards, surrounded by
flags of all sorts and colors. Five or six thousand soldiers were
drawn up in line, and the hills behind them were crowded with people.
When the Americans came to land, a procession was formed. First, the
marines and sailors, then the one flag of the procession, the Stars
and Stripes, its brilliant colors flashing in the bright sunshine. It
was borne by the two tallest, broadest-shouldered men among the
sailors of the squadron. After the flag came two of the younger men,
carrying a rosewood box mounted with gold and carefully wrapped in a
scarlet cloth. In this were the credentials of the Commodore and the
letter of the President. These were written on vellum, and the seals
were attached by cords of silk and gold, ending in tassels of gold.
Then came the Commodore, and on either side of him was a tall negro of
fine proportions and armed to the teeth. After the Commodore walked
the officers of the squadron. Commodore and officers were escorted
into the handsomely decorated hall of reception. The court interpreter
asked if the letter was ready. The two pages, guarded by the two
stalwart negroes, were summoned and placed the letter upon a handsome
box of red lacquer, which was ready to receive them. The Commodore
made a formal bow. The bands played our national airs, and all
returned to the vessels as ceremoniously as they had come.
This was the beginning of intercourse between the United States and
Japan. Two years later a treaty was signed, and in 1860 an embassy
from Japan visited this country.
So it was that Japan was opened to the world. In 1901 the Japanese
Minister of Justice said: "Commodore Perry's visit was, in a word, the
turn of the key which opened the doors of the Japanese Empire. Japan has
not forgotten--nor will she ever forget--that, next to her reigning and
most beloved sovereign, whose rare virtue and great wisdom is above all
praise, she owes her present state of prosperity to the United States of
America." "Are you coming over here to fight us?" a young Japanese in
this country was playfully asked. "Fight the United States?" he
exclaimed. "The United States is our friend." And drawing himself up to
his full height, he said proudly, "The Japanese do not forget. We know
what your Commodore Perry and your country have done for us."
The American flag was first seen in China in 1784. The Chinese said it
was "as beautiful as a flower," and for many years they always spoke
of it as the "flower flag."
A custom of great significance and value, that of raising the home
flag over legations and consulates in foreign lands whenever a home
holiday comes around, is due to the tact and ready wit of one of our
Ministers to Sweden, William W. Thomas, Jr. The following is his own
account of the event:--
On taking possession of the archives and property of the United
States at Stockholm, I was surprised to find there was no
American flag there. Talking with my colleagues, the Ministers
of other countries, I was informed that no foreign Minister at
Stockholm ever hoisted his country's flag, and that to do so
would be considered a breach of diplomatic etiquette.
What was I to do? I did not wish to offend my good friends, the
Swedes; that was the last thing a Minister should be guilty of.
And I certainly did not want to see an American holiday go by
without hoisting the American flag from the American Legation.
The question troubled me a great deal.
All at once a thought seized me, like an inspiration. I sent to
America for a flag. I procured flagstaff and halyards, and from
my own drawings I had carved an American eagle, which was gilded
and perched on top of the flag pole. Flag, eagle, and staff I
concealed in the Legation, and bided my time.
Undoubtedly the greatest character Sweden has ever produced is
Gustavus Adolphus. His life and deeds belong not to Sweden
along, but to the world. Well, when the anniversary of the death
and victory of this great captain of the Swedish host came
round,--the 6th of November, 1883,--and when the great choral
societies of Stockholm, bearing banners and followed by vast
multitudes of the Swedish populace, marched through the streets
of Sweden's capital, and gathered about the mausoleum on the
Island of Knights, where lies the mighty dead, sang pæans in his
praise, then it happened, somehow, that, regardless of precedent
or custom, the flag of the free republic--aye! flag, flagstaff,
golden eagle, and all--was run out from the American Legation;
and the starry banner of America waved in unison with the yellow
cross of Sweden, in honor of the mightiest warrior for the
freedom of our faith.
This act was everywhere approved in Sweden. It was praised by
both the people and the press. After this, it may well be
believed, the flag of America floated unchallenged in the
capital of the Northland. It waved on high on the birthday of
Washington, on that Memorial Day when we decorate the graves of
our brave boys in blue who saved the Union, and on the Fourth of
July, that gave the Republic birth. But I hoisted our flag
impartially, on Swedish holidays as well as our own; and the
Stars and Stripes floated out as proudly on the birthday of King
Oscar as on that of Washington.
"If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the
spot," commanded General Dix; but the United States may well be proud of
having herself hauled down her flag on one occasion not many years ago.
After the Spanish-American War had been fought, the treaty of peace with
Spain put Cuba into the hands of the United States, and the
star-spangled banner was raised and saluted. This was in 1899. The three
years following this act were busy ones with the War Department, for in
its control was left the management of all Cuban affairs. Cuba was
cleaned up, the yellow fever stamped out, schools were established,
peace restored, a constitution adopted by the people, and a president
elected. May 20, 1902, was the date set for the sovereignty of Cuba to
pass into the hands of the Cubans. The island had been made free, and
now she was coming to her own. Havana was in her best. Flags floated
from every house. Ships displayed both the American and the Cuban flags.
When the moment arrived, General Leonard Wood read the transfer, and the
President-elect signed it in the name of the new Republic. To free Cuba
from oppression the United States had entered into war. Our country
sought nothing for itself, and now the freedom of the island was
attained, and the American forces were to be withdrawn.
After the signing of the transfer Governor-General Wood loosened the
halyards and the star-spangled banner was lowered, having accomplished
nobly that for which it had been raised. As it sank slowly down the
Union salute of forty-five guns was fired. Then, by the hands of
General Wood, the Cuban flag was hoisted to its position and floated
proudly over a free country. A national salute of twenty-one guns was
fired in its honor, and the history of the Cuban Republic had begun.
As the _New York Sun_ said, "No country ever before conquered a
territory at great sacrifice to set up a government other than its own."
In the hands of Admiral Robert E. Peary our flag has won the honors of
the Northland. Many others had gone _far_ north; for Peary it was
reserved to go _farthest_ north, to the Pole itself. This was no
chance success, brought about by fine equipment and favorable weather;
it was the fair result of careful preparation and hard work. The
Admiral wrote in his journal:--
The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal
for twenty years, mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it.
It all seems so simple and commonplace. As Bartlett said when turning
back, when speaking of his being in these exclusive regions, which
no mortal had ever penetrated before, "It is just like every day!"
A little later, in acknowledging with gratitude the generous aid which
he had received, the Admiral wrote:--
Their assistance has enabled me to tell the last of the great earth
stories, the story the world has been waiting to hear for three
hundred years--the story of the discovery of the North Pole.
Such is the history of the flag of the United States of America from
the time when a little group of colonies dared to raise their own
standard and oppose their feeble strength and their slender resources
to the trained armies and the ample wealth of England.
This was a century and a half ago. The Republic has come of age and has
accepted her rightful share of the responsibilities of the world. The
mother country rejoiced to do her honor, and on one brilliant April
morning in 1917 the cities of England flung out her banner beside their
own. In London the Stars and Stripes were everywhere--in the hands of
the people in the streets, on private houses, on public buildings, even
on the "Victory Tower" of Westminster Palace, where before that day no
other flag save the Union Jack or the royal standard had ever been
raised. In the historic cathedral of St. Paul four thousand people had
come together to thank God for the alliance between the mother country
and her eldest child, that in this war of the world "they should go
forth and try the matter in fight by the help of God"--to quote the text
of the Bishop of London. The two flags, of Great Britain and of the
United States of America, hung side by side over the chancel rail. The
thousands of people rose with reverence and sang, first, "The
Star-Spangled Banner," and then, "God Save the King." And so it was that
Great Britain and the United States took their stand shoulder to
shoulder in the world-wide struggle to make sure "that government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
CHAPTER XIII
HOW TO BEHAVE TOWARD THE FLAG
Except the cross there is nothing that the American should hold more
sacred than the flag of the United States, because of its record in
peace and in war, and because it stands for the rights and the freedom
of one hundred million citizens.
"Sign of a nation great and strong,
To ward her people from foreign wrong."
There are definite rules in regard to the use of the flag. The
following are the most necessary to know:--
The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should
not be left out at night unless under fire. It should not be allowed to
touch the ground. If possible, a pole rather than a staff should be used.
In raising a flag to half-mast or half-staff, it should be run to the
top of the pole, and then lowered the width of the flag. Before being
retired, it should be run to the top again. On Memorial Day the flag
should be at half-mast until noon, and at the peak from noon until sunset.
When the flag goes by, rise if you are sitting; halt if you are
walking, and take off your hat.
In decorating, never drape the flag; always hang it flat. The Union
should be at the observer's left, whether the stripes are perpendicular
or horizontal. If our flag is crossed with the flags of other countries,
or carried in a parade beside them, it should always be at the right.
In unveiling a monument, the flag should never be allowed to drop to
the ground, but so arranged that it can be drawn up and will then
float over the monument.
If draped over a casket, the blue field should be at the head. If used
as the covering of an altar, nothing except the Bible should be placed
upon it, and the union should be at the right.
Distress at sea is indicated by hanging the flag union down.
Always stand when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played.
* * * * *
For those people who, whether maliciously or ignorantly, show any
disrespect to the flag, strenuous laws have been passed in most of the
States. In Massachusetts, a post of the Grand Army or a camp of Spanish
War veterans may put the name of the organization upon the flag, but no
other lettering is permitted. Any one who mutilates the flag or in any
way treats it with contempt is likely to fare worse than did John
Endicott in colonial days. The same respect is required to be shown to
the flags of all countries with which the United States is at peace.
The representation of the flag must not be used to advertise
merchandise, but it may be used on any publication designed to give
information about the flag, or to promote patriotism, or to encourage
the study of American history.
June 14, the anniversary of the day in 1777 on which the flag was
adopted, has been chosen as "Flag Day."
The length of a flag should be very nearly twice its height, or, to be
exact, in the proportion of 1.9 to 1. The length of the union should
be three fourths the height of the whole flag; the height of the union
should be that of seven stripes.
Perhaps a little fancifully, a star has been assigned to each State in
the order of its ratification of the Constitution and admission to the
Union. Beginning at the left upper corner and reading each row from
left to right, the stars of the separate States are as follows:--
_First row_
Delaware December 7, 1787
Pennsylvania December 12, 1787
New Jersey December 18, 1787
Georgia January 2, 1788
Connecticut January 9, 1788
Massachusetts February 6, 1788
Maryland April 28, 1788
South Carolina May 23, 1788
_Second row_
New Hampshire June 21, 1788
Virginia June 25, 1788
New York July 26, 1788
North Carolina November 21, 1789
Rhode Island May 29, 1790
Vermont March 4, 1791
Kentucky June 1, 1792
Tennessee June 1, 1796
_Third row_
Ohio February 19, 1803
Louisiana April 30, 1812
Indiana December 11, 1816
Mississippi December 10, 1817
Illinois December 3, 1818
Alabama December 14, 1819
Maine March 15, 1820
Missouri August 10, 1821
_Fourth row_
Arkansas June 15, 1836
Michigan January 26, 1837
Florida March 3, 1845
Texas December 29, 1845
Iowa December 28, 1846
Wisconsin May 29, 1848
California September 9, 1850
Minnesota May 11, 1858
_Fifth row_
Oregon February 14, 1859
Kansas January 29, 1861
West Virginia June 19, 1863
Nevada October 31, 1864
Nebraska March 1, 1867
Colorado August 1, 1876
North Dakota November 2, 1889
South Dakota November 2, 1889
_Sixth row_
Montana November 8, 1889
Washington November 11, 1889
Idaho July 3, 1890
Wyoming July 10, 1890
Utah January 4, 1896
Oklahoma November 16, 1907
New Mexico January 6, 1912
Arizona February 14, 1912
FLAG ANNIVERSARIES
January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen
stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge,
Massachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies.
January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing
to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the
Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it,
making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled
Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three
wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with
the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815.
February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a
British port by the ship Bedford, of Massachusetts, which arrived
in the river Thames on this date.
February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval
flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with
a rattlesnake diagonally across it.
February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes.
John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and
received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral
La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with
thirteen guns.
March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston
was on the day that town was evacuated by the British.
April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original
thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be
added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to
the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag.
April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the
first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British
man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag.
June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress.
This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the
making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross
of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and
white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field.
June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of
the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes
on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted
"the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775.
June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Nassau,
Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Nassau from the
British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes.
August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was
over Fort Stanwix, New York.
August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by
Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was
presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of
bunting. It is said to be now in the Essex Institute, at Salem,
Massachusetts.
September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at
the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its
adoption by the Continental Congress.
September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China
by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The
natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese
continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years.
September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its
first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing
from Boston.
October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in
Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was
hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in
the presence of both Russian and American troops.
SELECTIONS
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,--
'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto--"In God is our trust";
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS
BENJAMIN HARRISON
I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at
night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the
features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of
electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a
large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the
earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say
that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the
very battlements of heaven.... God pity the American citizen who does
not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free
institutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation.
A SONG FOR FLAG DAY
WILBUR D. NESBIT
Your Flag and my Flag!
And how it flies to-day
In your land and my land
And half a world away!
Rose-red and blood-red
The stripes forever gleam;
Snow-white and soul-white--
The good forefathers' dream;
Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright--
The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through the night.
Your Flag and my Flag!
And, oh, how much it holds--
Your land and my land--
Secure within its folds!
Your heart and my heart
Beat quicker at the sight;
Sun-kissed and wind-tossed,
Red and blue and white.
The one Flag,--the great Flag--the Flag for me and you--
Glorified all else beside--the red and white and blue!
Your Flag and my Flag!
To every star and stripe
The drums beat as hearts beat
And fifers shrilly pipe!
Your Flag and my Flag--
A blessing in the sky;
Your hope and my hope--
It never hid a lie!
Home land and far land and half the world around,
Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound.
THE FLAG GOES BY
HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
Blue and crimson and white it shines,
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
Hats off!
The colors before us fly;
But more than the flag is passing by.
Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State:
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;
Days of plenty and years of peace;
March of a strong land's swift increase;
Equal justice, right and law,
Stately honor and reverent awe;
Sign of a nation, great and strong
To ward her people from foreign wrong:
Pride and glory and honor,--all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
And loyal hearts are beating high:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR
HENRY CABOT LODGE
The flag stands for all that we hold dear--freedom, democracy,
government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are
the great principles for which the flag stands, and when that
democracy and that freedom and that government of the people are in
danger, then it is our duty to defend the flag which stands for them
all, and in order to defend the flag and keep it soaring as it soars
here to-day, undimmed, unsullied, victorious over the years, we must
be ready to defend it, and like the men of '76 and '61, pledge to it
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
UNION AND LIBERTY
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
Flag of the heroes who left us their glory,
Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame,
Blazoned in song and illumined in story,
Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame!
Up with our banner bright,
Sprinkled with starry light,
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,
While through the sounding sky
Loud rings the Nation's cry,--
UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!
Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation,
Pride of her children, and honored afar,
Let the wide beams of thy full constellation
Scatter each cloud that would darken a star!
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Empire unsceptred! What foe shall assail thee,
Bearing the standard of Liberty's van?
Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee,
Striving with men for the birthright of man.
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted,
Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw,
Then with the arms of thy millions united,
Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law!
Up with our banner bright, etc.
Lord of the Universe: shield us and guide us,
Trusting thee always, through shadow and sun!
Thou hast united us, who shall divide us?
Keep us, oh keep us the MANY IN ONE!
Up with =our= banner bright,
Sprinkled with starry light,
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore,
While through the sounding sky
Loud rings the nation's cry,--
UNION AND LIBERTY! ONE EVERMORE!
YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR FLAG
EDWARD EVERETT HALE
"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put
a bar between you and your country, pray God in His mercy to take you
that instant home to His own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget
you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home,
boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to
your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back
to it when you are free. And for your country, boy,"--and the words
rattled in his throat,--"and for that flag,"--and he pointed to the
ship,--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though
the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens
to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to
another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that
flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with,
behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country
Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to
your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother."
THE HOME FLAG
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
And at the masthead,
White, blue, and red,
A flag unrolls the stripes and stars.
Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless,
In foreign harbors shall behold
That flag unrolled,
'T will be as a friendly hand
Stretched out from his native land,
Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless!
OLD FLAG
HUBBARD PARKER
What shall I say to you, Old Flag?
You are so grand in every fold,
So linked with mighty deeds of old,
So steeped in blood where heroes fell,
So torn and pierced by shot and shell,
So calm, so still, so firm, so true,
My throat swells at the sight of you, Old Flag.
What of the men who lifted you, Old Flag,
Upon the top of Bunker's Hill,
Who crushed the Briton's cruel will,
'Mid shock and roar and crash and scream,
Who crossed the Delaware's frozen stream,
Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died,
That you might float in glorious pride, Old Flag?
Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag,
Who, while the cannon thundered wild,
Sent forth a husband, lover, child.
Who labored in the field by day,
Who, all the night long, knelt to pray,
And thought that God great mercy gave,
If only freely you might wave, Old Flag?
What is your mission now, Old Flag?
What but to set all people free,
To rid the world of misery,
To guard the right, avenge the wrong,
And gather in one joyful throng
Beneath your folds in close embrace
All burdened ones of every race, Old Flag?
Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag,
Your stars shine out for liberty.
Your white stripes stand for purity,
Your crimson claims that courage high
For Honor's sake to fight and die.
Lead on against the alien shore!
We'll follow you e'en to Death's door, Old Flag!
BRITANNIA TO COLUMBIA
ALFRED AUSTIN
What is the voice I hear
On the winds of the western sea?
Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear
And say what the voice may be.
'Tis a proud free people calling loud to a people proud and free.
And it says to them: "Kinsmen, hail;
We severed have been too long.
Now let us have done with a worn-out tale--
The tale of an ancient wrong--
And our friendship last long as love doth last and be stronger
than death is strong."
Answer them, sons of the self-same race,
And blood of the self-same clan;
Let us speak with each other face to face
And answer as man to man,
And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can.
Now fling them out to the breeze,
Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose,
And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these--
A message of friends and foes
Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war wind
blows--
A message to bond and thrall to wake,
For wherever we come, we twain,
The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake,
And his menace be void and vain,
For you are lords of a strong young land and we are lords of
the main.
Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale;
We severed have been too long,
But now we are done with a worn-out tale--
The tale of an ancient wrong--
And our friendship shall last long as love doth last and be
stronger than death is strong.
MAKERS OF THE FLAG
FRANKLIN K. LANE
[A portion of an address delivered by the Secretary of the Interior
to the employees of the Department of the Interior, on Flag Day,
1914.]
This morning as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a
most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say:
"Good-morning Mr. Flag Maker."
"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not
the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even
a general in the army. I am only a Government clerk."
"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice; "I know
you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday
straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or
perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or
helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or
pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in
Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming.
No matter; whichever one of these beneficient individuals you may
happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker."
I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:--
"Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of
ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag
than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn
Club prize this summer.
"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of
Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into
the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag.
"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and
yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to
a boy who will one day write a song that will give cheer to the
millions of our race. We are all making the flag."
"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!"
Then came a great shout from The Flag:--
"The work that we do is the making of the flag.
"I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow.
"I am whatever you make me, nothing more.
"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become.
"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart breaks
and tired muscles.
"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of
work, fitting the rails together truly.
"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I
play the coward.
"Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts
judgment.
"But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try
for.
"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope.
"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the
most daring.
"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute
makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook,
counselor, and clerk.
"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow.
"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why.
"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution.
"I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you
believe I can be.
"I am what you make me, nothing more.
"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of
yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this
nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They
are bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith,
because you have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the
makers of the flag and it is well that you glory in the making."
OUR FLAG
MARGARET SANGSTER
Flag of the fearless-hearted,
Flag of the broken chain,
Flag in a day-dawn started,
Never to pale or wane.
Dearly we prize its colors,
With the heaven light breaking through,
The clustered stars and the steadfast bars,
The red, the white, and the blue.
Flag of the sturdy fathers,
Flag of the royal sons,
Beneath its folds it gathers
Earth's best and noblest ones.
Boldly we wave its colors,
Our veins are thrilled anew
By the steadfast bars, the clustered stars,
The red, the white, and the blue.
OUR HISTORY AND OUR FLAG[1]
WILLIAM BACKUS GUITTEAU
Love of country is a sentiment common to all peoples and ages; but no
land has ever been dearer to its people than our own America. No
nation has a history more inspiring, no country has institutions more
deserving of patriotic love. Turning the pages of our nation's
history, the young citizen sees Columbus, serene in the faith of his
dream; the Mayflower, bearing the lofty soul of the Puritan;
Washington girding on his holy sword; Lincoln, striking the shackles
from the helpless slave; the constitution, organizing the farthest
west with north and south and east into one great Republic; the
tremendous energy of free life trained in free schools, utilizing our
immense natural resources, increasing the nation's wealth with the aid
of advancing science, multiplying fertile fields and noble workshops,
and busy schools and happy homes.
This is the history for which our flag stands; and when the young
citizen salutes the flag, he should think of the great ideals which it
represents. The flag stands for democracy, for liberty under the law;
it stands for heroic courage and self-reliance, for equality of
opportunity, for self-sacrifice and the cause of humanity; it stands
for free public education, and for peace among all nations. When you
salute the flag, you should resolve that your own life will be
dedicated to these ideals. You should remember that he is the truest
American patriot who understands the meaning of our nation's ideals,
and who pledges his own life to their realization.
[Footnote 1: From _Preparing for Citizenship_. Houghton Mifflin Company,
1913, 1915.]
THE AMERICAN FLAG
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE
Flag of the free heart's hope and home!
By angel hands to valor given;
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY
ROBERT C. WINTHROP
There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its
folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a
foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its
endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because
it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.
It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the
Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation,
which receives a new star with every new State. The two together
signify union past and present.
The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky,
make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
upheld by all our hands.
AMERICA
SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,--
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet Freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,--
The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God our King.
INDEX
Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2.
"Albany Plan," 18-19.
Alexandria, 61.
Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38.
Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58.
America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52;
overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58.
"Ancient flag," the, 3.
Anderson, General, carries the flag from Fort Sumter, raises it again
in 1865, 72-73;
burial of, 74.
Andrea, Dona, saluted at one of the West Indian Islands, 45.
Arch Street, home of Betsy Ross, 40, 42.
Arizona, admitted to the Union, 66;
men from, at Santiago, 75.
Asia, sought by Henry Hudson, 1-2.
Atlantic Ocean, crossed by Henry Hudson, 1.
Bainbridge, Captain, carries Algerian ambassador to Constantinople,
57-58.
Baltimore, 50, 61.
Bedford, the flag of, 20-21.
Beecher, Henry Ward, speech of, at Fort Sumter, 73.
Bethlehem, 50.
Bon Homme Richard, sinking of the, 45-47.
Boston, arrival of stamps at, 15-16;
flag seen in, 34; 35.
Boston Harbor, 5;
tea dropped into, 30.
Brest Roads, 44.
Britain, 34.
British, besiege Fort Stanwix, 48.
Broadway, 53.
Brooklyn Navy Yard, flags for the navy made in the, 67.
Bunker Hill, flags at battle of, 21; 28, 29, 30, 32.
Bunting, not made in America until 1866, 66-67.
Cambridge, Indian volunteers come to, 29; 34, 39.
Carleton, Sir Guy, delayed in New York, 53.
Castle Island, ship made to strike her colors at, 5-6.
Chapultepec, taken by Americans, 70-71.
Charles II, and the New England coinage, 11.
Charleston, the flag of, 11-12;
stamped paper in, 15;
liberty flag in, 16;
flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22;
Liberty Tree of, 30;
cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 31; 72.
China, the American flag in, 79.
Christina, becomes queen of Sweden, 2.
Civil War, the beginning of the, 71.
Clinton, Sir Henry, cuts down the Liberty Tree in Charleston, 31.
Columbus, 58.
Concord, 20.
Congress, 19;
sends a committee to Cambridge, 32;
orders building of cruisers, 35;
orders a flag, 41; 42; 43;
celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 51;
decrees the star-spangled banner, 63-64.
_See also_ Continental Congress.
Connecticut, regimental colors of, 22;
motto of, 30.
Constantinople, Algerian ambassador carried to, 58.
Constitution, frigate, 57.
Continental Congress, 27;
weakness of the statement issued by the, 29;
Washington a member of the, 33; 37;
declares the colonies to be independent and decrees a flag, 39-40.
Cook, Captain, to be aided by all American cruisers, 38.
Copley, paints in the flag, 52.
Cotton, Dr. John, advises concerning the King's Flag, 6-7;
Indian chief resembles, 59.
Cuba, given up to the Cubans, 81-82.
Culpeper Minute Men, 25.
Daiquiri, landing place of the Rough Riders, 75.
Declaration of Independence, 32, 40;
flag made before the, 42;
first anniversary celebrated on the Delaware River, 51.
Delaware River, Swedes settle on the, 2;
pine tree flag on the, 35;
stars and stripes on the, 42;
celebration on the, 51.
Digby, Admiral, licenses a Nantucket skipper to go to London, 52.
Dix, General, 81.
Driver, Captain William, originates the name "Old Glory," 68.
Dutch, establish trading posts on the Hudson River, 2;
overpowered by the English, 2;
opposed by New Englanders, 9-10;
government of, inquires concerning the American flag, 65.
Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails in the employ of the, 1-2.
Elliot, Major, wife of, presents silken colors, 24.
Endicott, John, cuts the cross from the English flag, 4-5; 87.
England, flag of, brought to Jamestown, 2-3; 6; 18; 33;
flag of, pulled down in New York, 54; 66;
honors the Stars and Stripes, 84.
English East India Company, flag of the, 34.
Essex (county), 9.
Essex Institute, "Old Glory" sent to the, 69.
"Father of his Country," 33.
Fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, the flag of, 56-62.
Fillmore, President, sends letter to Japan, 77.
First Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, 74.
_See_ Rough Riders.
Flag anniversaries, 90-92.
"Flag Day," 87.
Flag etiquette, 85-89.
"Flower flag," the, 79.
Flamborough Head, 45.
Fort George, 53.
Fort McHenry, attacked by the British, 60.
Fort Moultrie, 23.
Fort Schuyler.
_See_ Fort Stanwix.
Fort Stanwix, flag made at, 48-49.
Fort Sumter, firing upon, begins the Civil War, 71-72;
flag raised upon, 73.
Fourth of July, Declaration of Independence on the, 39-40;
first anniversary of the, 51;
new stars to be added to the flag on the, 64;
honored in Sweden, 81.
France, war with, 57;
sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 58.
Franklin, Benjamin, proposes the "Albany Plan," 18-19; 24, 25, 26;
sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32; 34;
issues letters of marque, 37.
Frederick, burial place of Francis Scott Key, 61.
French, opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10;
meet the New Englanders at Louisburg, 12-13.
Gadsden, Christopher, speaks of possible independence, 30.
Gage, General, 21.
Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, commands Fort Stanwix, 49.
George III, proclamation of, 54.
"God Save the King," sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84.
Grand Army of the Republic, 74, 86.
Grand Council, part of the "Albany Plan," 18-19.
"Grand Union Flag," made in Cambridge, 33;
designer not known, 34; 39.
Great Britain, second war with, 57, 84.
Gustavus Adolphus, plans a settlement in America, 2; 80.
Hall, Lieutenant, rescues the flag at Fort Sumter, 72.
Hancock, John, presents a flag to General Putnam, 30.
Harrison, Benjamin, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32.
Hart, Sergeant Peter, fastens the flag up on the ramparts at Fort
Sumter, 72;
presents it to be raised, 73.
Harvard College, used by troops, 28.
Havana, 82.
Hawthorne, tells the story of Endicott and the flag, 4-5;
of "The Pine-Tree Shillings," 11.
Hemisphere, on a flag, 11.
Henry, Patrick, 25.
Hessians, 51.
Holland, Hudson's vessel sailed from, the flag of, 1; 44.
Holmes, "Old Ironsides," poem of, 56.
House of Representatives, hoists the Star-Spangled Banner, 65.
Hudson, carries the Dutch flag into the Hudson River, 1-2.
Indian, enters embrasure at Louisburg, 13.
Indiana, 63.
Indians, Hudson welcomed by the, 1;
method of warfare, 8;
given flags, 12;
volunteer at Cambridge, 29;
fought by Washington, 33;
besiege Fort Schuyler, 48;
raise the American flag, 59.
Island of Knights, 80.
James I, changes the flag of England, 3.
James II, sends a flag to New England, leaves England, 10.
Jamestown, founded, 2.
Japan, opened by Perry, 77-79;
embassy from visits the United States, 78;
the friend of the United States, 79.
Jasper, William, rescues the flag at Fort Moultrie, 23-24.
Jersey City, 65.
Jones, John Paul, hoists a flag on the Alfred, 35-37;
forbidden to burn defenseless towns, 37;
put in command of the Ranger, 43;
receives a flag in Portsmouth and a salute in France, 43-45;
in command of the Bon Homme Richard, 45-47.
Journal, of Congress, 32.
Kansas, first raising of the United States flag in, 59.
Kentucky, admitted as a State, 56.
Kettle Hill, battle of, 76.
Key, Francis Scott, writes the "Star-Spangled Banner," 60-61.
King Philip's War, flag used in, 9.
"King's Flag," 3;
displayed at Castle Island, 6-7.
Lafayette visited by Pulaski, welcomed to Baltimore, 49, 50.
Las Guasimas, 75.
"Last battle of the Revolution," 53.
Lexington, 31;
battle of, 35; 39.
Liberty, the demand for, 14.
"Liberty Elm," Massachusetts history associated with the, 30.
"Liberty Hall," 16.
Liberty Pole, cut down in New York, 31.
"Liberty Tree," in Boston, 16, 17;
of South Carolina, 30;
Paine's poem on the, 31.
Lincoln, President, 72.
"Lion of the North," 2.
London, 52;
honors the Stars and Stripes, 84.
Longfellow, poem of, "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem," 50.
Louisburg, the New Englanders at, 12-13.
Louisiana, admitted to the Union, 63.
Louisiana Territory, purchased by the United States, 58.
Lowell, quotation from, 63.
Lowell (city), bunting made in, 66.
Lynch, Thomas, sent to Cambridge by Congress, 32.
Maryland, 61.
Massachusetts, troubles concerning the cross in the flag, 4-7; 8, 9;
flag of the "Three County Troop" in, 9;
use of "pine tree" in, 10, 11, 15;
flag of, after Bunker Hill, 22; 27;
motto of, 30;
decrees the use of the pine-tree flag, 35; 66; 68; 86.
Mediterranean Sea, freed from Pirates, 58.
Memorial Day, 81.
Mexico, war with, 70.
Mexico, the City of, captured by Americans, 70-71.
Middlesex (county), 9, 20.
Monroe, President, signs a bill decreeing the use of the Star-Spangled
Banner, 64.
Moravian Sisters, make banner for Pulaski, 50.
Morris, Robert, 40.
Mottoes on flags, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 36, 54.
Moultrie, 71.
Moultrie, Colonel, defends Fort Moultrie, 23-24.
Nantucket, 52, 53.
Nashville, 68.
National Museum, "Star-Spangled Banner" of Francis Scott Key in, 61.
Netherlands, flag of the, 34.
New Amsterdam, 2.
Newbury, flag of the militia in, 8-9.
Newburyport, patrol, of, 15.
New England, alliance of the folk of, 9-10; 18.
New Englanders, 10;
set off to capture Louisburg, 12.
"New England Flag," the, 21.
New Hampshire, 15, 43.
New Haven, peace rejoicing in, 54.
New Mexico, admitted to the Union, 66.
New World, 2, 58.
New York, founded by the Dutch, 2;
flag of, 15;
arrival of stamps at, 16;
liberty pole in, 17-18;
hoists flag with beaver device, 22; 27; 31;
State of, 48;
Sir Guy Carleton delayed in, 53; 64; 72.
_New York Sun_, 82.
North Pole, discovered by Admiral Peary, 83.
Ohio, admitted to the Union, 63.
"Old Glory," origin of the name and story of, 68-69;
in three wars, 70.
"Old Ironsides," frigate, poem by Holmes, 57.
"Old Thirteen," 2.
Oliver, hanged in effigy in Boston, 15-16.
Oscar, king of Sweden, 81.
Page family, as color bearers, 20.
Paine, Thomas, poem of on the "Liberty Tree," 31.
Pearson, Captain, yields to John Paul Jones, 45.
Peary, Admiral Robert E., carries the flag to the North Pole, 82-83.
Pennsylvania, 32, 50, 55.
_Pennsylvania Gazette_, 19.
_Pennsylvania Journal_, 25.
Perry, Commodore M. C., carries the letter of President Fillmore to
Japan, 77-79.
Philadelphia, 18, 37, 39, 40, 55.
Philadelphia Light Horse Troop, escorts Washington to New York, 27;
flag of the, 27-28, 33.
Phoenix, 74.
Pike, Lieut. Z. M., and the Indians, 59.
Pilgrims, 34.
Pine tree, on flag, 10, 11, 21, 35;
used on the Delaware River, 35.
"Pine-Tree Shillings, The," Hawthorne's story of, 11.
Pope's Creek, birthplace of Washington, 61.
Portsmouth, banner in, 15;
the "quilting party" flag, 43-47.
Poughkeepsie, 49.
Prospect Hill, 29;
flag raised on, 34.
Pulaski, Count, the banner of, 49-50.
Puritans, troubled by the cross in the flag, 4-7.
Putnam, Major-General Israel, 29;
flag presented to, by John Hancock, 30.
Quaker City, the, 27.
Ranger, command of, given to Jones, 43;
the flag of, and its salute, 43-45.
Rattlesnake, on flag of Charleston, 22;
a favorite emblem, 24-26; 35;
on flag of the Alfred, 37.
Reid, Captain, S. C., designs the flag with stars arranged in one
star, 65.
Revere, Paul, 20.
Revolutionary War, 21.
Rhode Island, hoists a flag with the anchor device, 22.
Roman Catholic Church, the cross regarded as the badge of the, 4.
Rome, 48.
Ross, Betsy, makes the first flag with stars and stripes, 40-42.
Ross, Mrs. Elizabeth Griscom, 40, 48.
_See_ Betsy Ross.
Ross, Colonel, 40, 42.
"Rough Riders," 74.
St. Andrew, the cross of, 3, 18, 33.
St. George's Cross, united with the cross of St. Andrew, 3;
cut out of the flag by Endicott, 4-5;
in the flag sent by James II to New England, in the pine-tree
flag, 10; 18; 21; 32; 34.
St. Paul, Cathedral of, 84.
Salem, cross cut from the flag in, 4-5, 8, 68.
San Juan Hill, the battle of, 76.
Santiago, attacked by the Rough Riders, 75.
Savannah, flag hoisted at, 22, 24.
Scotland, the flag of, 3; 33.
Serapis, taken by Jones, 45-47.
Six Nations, 18.
Somerville, flag raised in, 34.
Sons of Liberty, 15;
put up a liberty pole, 17-18;
meetings of the, 30.
South Carolina, 11;
treatment of stamped paper in, 14; 30; 32.
Spain, owner of the Louisiana Territory, 59;
war with, 74, 81.
Spaniards, repulsed at Las Guasimas, 75.
Spanish-American War, 81, 87.
Stamp Act, 14;
repeal of the, 17; 30.
Stars and Stripes, first salute to, 45;
replace the English flag in New York, 54;
at Fort McHenry, 60;
at Chapultepec, 71;
fired upon at Fort Sumter, 71-72;
raised again at Fort Sumter, 72-73;
in Japan, 78;
in China, 79;
in Sweden, 81;
honored in England, 84;
behavior towards the, 85-87.
"Star-Spangled Banner, The," written by Francis Scott Key, 60-61;
played at Fort Sumter, 73;
sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, 84.
Stiles, President, describes the New Haven rejoicing for peace, 54.
Stockholm, 80.
Suffolk (county), 9.
Swartwout, Captain Abram, cloak of, used for flag at Fort Stanwix, 48-49.
Sweden, American flag raised in, 79-81.
Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, are overpowered by the Dutch, 2;
opposed by the New Englanders, 9-10.
Tennessee, admitted to the Union, 63; 68.
Thames, the royal seal tossed into the, 10.
"Thirteen," 51, 63.
Thirteen stripes, first used, 28.
Thomas, William W., raises American flag in Sweden, 79-81.
Trenton, 51.
Tripoli, war with, 57.
Trumbull, battle of Bunker Hill painted by, 21.
"Union Flag," 18, 22;
made at Cambridge, 33;
worn by the Alfred, 37.
Union Jack, 3;
given to the Indians, 12; 18; 84.
United Colonies, 34.
"Unite or die," motto of the "Albany Plan," 18.
United States, 26, 51, 52;
left by British troops, 53; 54, 55, 58;
buys the Louisiana Territory, 58-59;
flag of, decided upon, 63-65;
flag manufactured in, 67;
opens intercourse with Japan, 78; 80;
flag of, hauled down in Cuba, 81-82; 83, 84, 87.
Vermont, admitted as a State, 56.
"Victory Tower," Star-Spangled Banner floats from, 84.
Virginia, 2, 3, 25, 33, 61.
Washington, 21;
goes to Boston, 27-29; 32;
coat-of-arms of, 33; 34; 40;
visits Betsy Ross, 41;
significance of the flag expressed by, 43; 61;
monument reared to in Baltimore, birthplace of marked, 61-62; 81.
Watson, Elkanah, flag painted in portrait of, by Copley, 52.
Wendover, Peter H., induces Congress to decree the Star-Spangled
Banner, 64.
Westminster Palace, 84.
Westmoreland County, 61.
West Point, burial place of General Anderson, 74.
Wood, General Leonard, 75;
delivers Cuba to the Cubans, 82.
Yale, 54.
Transcriber's Note:
* Footnote moved to end of article on Pg 114.
* Moved frontispiece illustration to Pg 1.
* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation retained.
* Pg 16 Corrected spelling of word "processsion" to "procession" located
in the phrase "and marched in a log procession".
* Pg 43 "whereever" and Pg 107 "wherever" retained as printed.
* Pg 90 Replaced semi-colon with a colon after "1783" located in
"February 3, 1783".
* Pg 92 Removed extraneous comma after "1787" located in "September 30,
1787,-August 10, 1790".
* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "30" located in the phrase
"cut down by Sir Henry Clinton, 30".
* Pg 119 Replaced comma with a semi-colon after "19" located in the phrase
"Congress, 19".
* Pg 120 Added period after "39" located in "designer not known, 34; 39".
* Pg 121 Replaced period with a comma after "Jones" located in phrase
"Pearson, captain, yields to John Paul Jones".
* Pg 122 Replaced period with a comma after "51" located in phrase
""Thirteen," 51".
End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Book of the Flag, by Eva March Tappan