The history of our flag from its inception, in fact, the inception
itself, has been a source of much argument and great diversity of
opinion. Many theories and mystifications have gone forth, mingled
with a few facts, giving just enough color of truth to make them seem
plausible. It is for the purpose of clearing away the veil of doubt
that hangs around the origin of the Stars and Stripes that this book
has been written.
The Continental Congress in 1775 was very much disturbed over the
embarrassing situation of the colonies, and after Washington was
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army, it showed its independence by
appointing a committee composed of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison
and Mr. Lynch to create a colonial flag that would be national in its
tendency. They finally decided on one with thirteen bars, alternate
red and white, the “King’s Colors” with the crosses of St. Andrew and
St. George in a field of blue. The cross of St. Andrew then, as now,
was of white, while the cross of St. George was of red. The colonies
still acknowledged the sovereignty of England—as this flag attested—but
united against her tyranny. This was known as the “flag of our
union”—that is, the union of the colonies, and was not created until
after the committee had been to the camp at Cambridge and consulted
with Washington. It was probably made either at the camp at Cambridge
or in Boston, as it was unfurled by Washington under the Charter Oak on
January 2, 1776. It received thirteen cheers and a salute of thirteen
guns.
It is not known whether Samuel Adams, the “Father of Liberty,”
was consulted in regard to this flag, but it is a well known fact
that he was looking forward, even then, to the independence of the
colonies, while Washington, Franklin and the others still looked for
justice,—tardy though it might be,—from England.
Two days later, on the 4th of January, 1776, Washington received the
King’s speech, and as it happened to come so near to the time of the
adoption of the new flag, with the English crosses of St. Andrew and
St. George, many of the regulars thought it meant submission, and the
English seemed for the time to so understand it; but our army showed
great indignation over the King’s speech to parliament, and burned all
of the copies.
In a letter of General Washington to Joseph Reed, written January 4, he
says: “We are at length favored with the sight of his majesty’s most
gracious speech, breathing sentiments of tenderness and compassion for
his deluded American subjects. The speech I send you (a volume of them
were sent out by the Boston gentry) was farcical enough and gave great
joy to them without knowing or intending it, for on that day (the 2nd)
which gave being to our new army, but before the proclamation came to
hand, we hoisted the Union flag, in compliment to the United Colonies,
but behold it was received at Boston as a token of the deep impression
the speech had made upon us and as a signal of submission. By this time
I presume they begin to think it strange that we have not made a formal
surrender of our lines.”
[Illustration]
At this time the number and kinds of flags that were in use on land
and sea, were only limited to the ingenuity of the state and military
officials. This was very embarrassing. On May 20, 1776, Washington
was requested to appear before Congress on important secret military
business. Major-General Putnam, according to Washington’s letters, was
left in command at New York during his absence. It was in the latter
part of May, 1776, that Washington, accompanied by Colonel George
Ross, a member of his staff, and by the Honorable Robert Morris,
the great financier of the revolution, called upon Mrs. Betsy Ross,
a niece of Colonel Ross. She was a young and beautiful widow, only
twenty-four years of age, and known to be expert at needle work. They
called to engage her services in preparing our first starry flag. She
lived in a little house in Arch street, Philadelphia, which stands
to-day unchanged, with the exception of one large window, which has
been placed in the front. It was here, in this house, that Washington
unfolded a paper on which had been rudely sketched a plan of a flag of
thirteen stripes, with a blue field dotted with thirteen stars. They
talked over the plan of this flag in detail, and Mrs. Ross noticed that
the stars which were sketched were six-pointed, and suggested that they
should have five points. Washington admitted that she was correct, but
he preferred a star that would not be an exact copy of that on his coat
of arms, and he also thought that a six-pointed star would be easier to
cut. Mrs. Ross liked the five-pointed star, and to show that they were
easily cut she deftly folded a piece of paper and with one clip of her
scissors unfolded a perfect star with five points. (See illustration
showing the way Betsy Ross folded the paper giving the five-pointed
star which has ever since graced our country’s banner. A, first fold of
a square piece of paper; B, second; C, third, and D, fourth fold. The
dotted line AA is the clip of the scissors.)
There is no record that Congress took any action on the national
colors at this session,—but this first flag was made by Betsy Ross
at this time, and in this way, and we find in Washington’s letter of
May 28, 1776, to General Putnam at New York, positive instructions
“to the several colonels to hurry to get their colors done.” In the
orderly book, May 31, 1776, are these words: “General Washington has
written to General Putnam desiring him in the most pressing terms, to
give positive orders to all the colonels to have colors immediately
completed for their respective regiments.” The proof is positive that
the committee approved the finished flag of Betsy Ross, and she was
instructed to procure all the bunting possible in Philadelphia and make
flags for the use of congress, Colonel Ross furnishing the money.
It is easily understood how on account of the meager resources of
Congress and the unsettled condition of affairs generally, together
with the fact that legislative action was extremely slow and tedious,
that Colonel Ross should expedite matters by defraying the expense
of this first order for our national colors. There is little, if
any, doubt but that Washington on December 24th, Christmas Eve, in
1776, carried the starry flag in making that perilous trip through
ice and snow across the Delaware, leading his sturdy, but poorly
equipped troops. How inspiring to look back to that night when the
Massachusetts fishermen so skilfully managed the boats that the
whole army was safely landed and in line of march at four o’clock on
Christmas morning. The story of how they plodded on through ice and
snow, surprising and defeating the Hessians and capturing a thousand
men and their ammunition and equipments, is well known. This was the
battle of Trenton, which changed the whole aspect of the war, even
causing Lord Cornwallis to disembark and again start in pursuit of
Washington, whose cause he had so lately declared lost. It is fitting
here to speak of that friend of Washington, Robert Morris, one of the
committee that originated our national colors, the great patriot who
after the battle of Trenton went from house to house, soliciting money
from his friends to clothe and feed this glorious army, which had
fought so well.
Congress was very slow to act, and did not seem able to command
even the meager resources of the different colonies. It lacked the
centralized government which gives it such strength to-day. Considering
the grave questions affecting the life and liberty of the people, it is
not strange that the flag or any definite action regarding it, was not
given prompt consideration. To indicate how slow Congress was to act in
regard to the flag, we have only to refer to the Congressional records,
which show that the resolution for its adoption was dated over one year
after it was actually created, by the committee of which Washington was
chief; that is on June 14, 1777. However, a month previous to this,
Congress sent Betsy Ross an order on the treasury for £14, 12s. 2d.,
for flags for the fleet in the Delaware River, and she soon received
an order to make all the government flags. The first flag was made of
English bunting, exactly the same as those of to-day, excepting that
our bunting now is of home manufacture.
There seems to be no question but that these colors, the stars and
stripes, were unofficially adopted immediately after the completion of
the first flag, the latter part of May, 1776, and that they went into
general use at once, so far as it was practicable under the conditions
then existing. Washington had the first flag created at this time.
It was satisfactory, and he immediately instructed General Putnam to
have the colonels prepare their colors—the colors that had just been
approved, and which we know to be our flag of to-day.
The first reference we have of an English description of our flag is at
the surrender of General Burgoyne, October 17, 1777, when one of the
officers said: “The stars of the new flag represent a constellation of
states.”
Mr. George Canby, an estimable gentleman of the old school, and a
grandson of Betsy Ross, has been tireless and indefatigable in his
researches on the subject of our flag, and he claims, as did his
brother, Mr. William J. Canby, before him, that the first flag with
stars and stripes went into immediate use after its inception in the
latter part of May, 1776.
The Declaration of Independence was passed by Congress on July 4,
1776, and some authorities, of whom Admiral Preble is the best, seem
to infer that the Cambridge flag, with its English crosses, which was
unfurled by Washington under the Charter Oak, was still carried by our
armies until Congress took action in 1777. That Washington or Congress
would sanction the carrying of this flag after the Declaration of
Independence seems absurd, and it is certainly against all proof, as
well as against the records of the family whose ancestor made the first
flag.
Peak’s portrait of Washington at the battle of Trenton, December 26 and
27, 1776, shows the Union Jack with the thirteen stars in the field
of blue. Admiral Preble says, this is “only presumptive proof” that
the stars were at that time in use on our flag, but Titian R. Peale,
son of the painter, says: “I visited the Smithsonian Institute to
see the portrait of Washington painted by my father after the battle
of Trenton. The flag represented has a blue field with white stars
arranged in a circle. I don’t know that I ever heard my father speak of
that flag, but the trophies at Washington’s feet I know he painted from
the flags then captured, and which were left with him for the purpose.”
He further says: “He was always very particular in the matters of
historic record in his pictures.”
This Preble admits in his book, but evidently thought that the artist,
Peale, took the flag as it was then (1779), and not the flag of 1776,
which the writer claims was identically the same. Through persistent
research many facts have come to light that would doubtless have
changed the opinion of the late Admiral Preble—facts that were unknown
to him.
On Saturday, June 14, 1777, Congress finally officially adopted the
flag of our Union and independence, to-wit:
Resolved, “That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars,
white in the blue field, representing a new constellation.”
There is not the slightest record in any of the mss. journals in the
library of Congress, or in the original files or in the drafts in
motions made in the continental Congress of any previous legislative
action for the establishment of a national flag for the United States
of America, whose independence was declared nearly a year previous.
Even after the official adoption of the flag it was not thoroughly
brought before the people for many months. All of this adds to the
proof that Congress was simply adopting and legalizing a flag that
was in general use. That there was no recorded discussion in Congress
regarding the adoption of our flag, was perfectly natural, because the
star spangled banner came in with our independence, and at this time
(June 14, 1777) was simply being officially acknowledged.
There is some diversity of opinion as to how the red, white and blue
arranged in the stars and stripes came to be thought of as our flag.
The flag of the Netherlands, which is of red, white and blue stripes,
had been familiar to the pilgrims while they lived in Holland, and its
three stripes of red, white and blue were doubtless not forgotten. But
it seems most probable that the coat of arms of the Washington family
furnished more than a suggestion. The coat of arms of his ancestors,
that had been adopted by him, comprised the red, white and blue and the
stars; and was familiar to all who were associated with Washington. He
it was who brought the pencil drawing, when, with the others, he called
upon Mrs. Ross to have a suitable flag made, and as we find no mention
in history, records or diaries as to who made the drawing, it seems
conclusive that he himself designed and drew the plan from his own coat
of arms, which was entirely different from England’s colors which had
become necessarily distasteful.
It seems fitting in this place to write a little history in regard
to the Washington coat of arms, the earliest mention of which was by
Lawrence Washington, worshipful mayor of Northampton, England, in 1532.
In 1540 he placed it upon the porch of his manor house, and on the tomb
of Ann, his wife, in 1564. At the old church at Brighton, England,
the tombs of Washington’s ancestors are marked by memorial plates of
brass bearing the arms of the family, which consisted of a shield that
bore the stars and stripes. The Archeological Society of England, the
highest authority on ancient churches and heraldic matters, states that
from the red and white bars, and stars of this shield, and the raven
issuant from its crest (borne later by General Washington), the framers
of the constitution took their idea of the flag.
When General Washington’s great-grandfather, Sir John Washington,
came to this country in 1657, the family shield was brought with him.
Sir John settled in Virginia, and established the American line of
Washingtons. George Washington afterwards had it emblazoned upon the
panels of his carriages, on his watch seals, book marks, and his dishes
also bore the same emblem.
[Illustration: COPYRIGHT 1898, BY ADDIE G. WEAVER.]
[Illustration: WASHINGTON COAT OF ARMS.
The accompanying plate shows the form and colors of the Coat of Arms of
the Washington family, back as early as 1300.
The name first appeared as De Wessynton; then Weshyngton, and, finally,
Washington.
How appropriately our own beautiful shield of the United States comes
in here, and why not? was he not the “Father of Our Country”? and what
more natural than that he should have left the imprint of his life and
characteristics in symbol?