Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-08-01
WHOLE No IaS.

: Jan. s5th. 1176s that this Union Flag
had thirteen stripes and that it was sa-
4 Iluted with thirteen guns aud thiTteen
lcheefs, In the succeeding February.
i 17T6s in ri Philadelphia. Admirai HOP.
kins sailed with the American deet,
4 q amid the acclamations Of thousands
Iassembled on the joyful occasion, under
la display of a UEIoN FLAG, with thirteen
hstripes IN the field, emblematic of. the
thirteen original colonies. "
In the succeeding May, when the Vir.
ginia convention so nobly Instructed its
delegates in congress to .tdeclare The
united colonies free and independent
States.s and to propose ga contedefa
ton of the colonies,'s there was a great
civic aud military parade, when. the cons
Temporary account states, the Union
dag of the American States waved upon
the capitol during the whole Of the ceres
mony.''
This flag is spoken of in q manner to
indicate that it was something new. 1t
is called the great Union dag," and it
was first unfurled to the breeze in the arr
my under Washington. No account NE
have seen names the colors ofthe stripes.
GuouS u+At 10 pEoOAulo IueY 5MSIeaH6SA ,huO
white /; and nothing is said of the stars,
Various suggestions have been given as TO,
the origin Of these deyieess aud one Of
them is that they were both derived from
the coat of arms of the Washington fans
lily. A distinguished British antiquarian,
Lower. in volume of researches onyari-
Gus subjects, which has recently been is.
sued in London, has the following curl.
GUS passage on our national flag and the
Washington coat Of arms. Il occurrs in
a discourse on heraldry:
I" AS to George Washingtou's descent
from nobility to royalty, have not had
the means of verifying the statement,
though it is highly probable, as he was
descended from a good family in the coun-
ty Of Northampton. Like Oliver Croh-
well, the american patriot was fond Of
geneaIogy, aud oorresponded with our
heralds on the subject Of his own pedi.
gree. Yes, this George Washington, tho
man who gave sanction, il not birth, 10
tthas most democratical sentiment-that
all men arc free and equal, was, as the
phrase goes, gentleman of blood, aud
of ancient time, and Of coat armour nor
was he slow to acknowledge the fact,
When the Americans in their most righ.-
teous revolt against the tSfany Of tho
mother country, cast about for an ensign
with which to todistinguish themselves from
their English oppressors, what did they
ultimately adopt? Why, nothing moro
nor less than gentlenan's badGe--a
modification Of the old English coat Of
arms. born by their leader and deliYerer.
A few stars and stripes had in tho old
chivalrous times distinguished his ances.
tors from their conpeers in tournament,
and upon battle feld moro stars and
additional stripes denoting the number
of States that joined in the struggle now
became the standard around which the
patriots ofthe West so successfully rallied.
It's not little curious that this poor
out>worn ray of feudalism--ns many
would countit-shouldh have thus expand
ed into the bright and ample banner
which now waves from every sea-"
This is not the first time this sugges-
lion has been made. Bat there we're
stars and stripes on the Douglas arms as
we'll as on Washington's. Stripes, too,
had been long used in national ensigns.
Thus the dag Of the Netherlands had on
it three colors, red, white and blue, ar.
ranged in three horizontal stripes, which
device was adopted as early as 1859.
This idea Of the standafd-a symbol Of
uuion-was the same as that 6rBt design.
ed by our stripes; and'aS Holland, more
than any other nation, gave us the ideal
of our Federal Union, why may not our
fathers have derived the idea Of the
stripes from its aag?
It is not clear what there was ia Ihe
place now occupied by the stars. We
have before us facsimile Of what 10
termed "the dag Of the confederatsd
Statess" which was used between July,
1915, and June 1777. II is represented,
in the union emblem Of stripes. a rattle.
snake, eoiled. and ready 70 strike, with
the motto +" Don't tread on me" A dag
with the rattlesnake device Is alluded %
as having been used on board our priya-
teers. Thus the London Chronicle Of
July, 81, 1915, has an account Of the
American standard as follows -" The
coIors Of The American feet have snake
with thirteen rattles, tie fourteenth bud.
ding. described in the attitude Of going
to strike, with this motto, "Don't tread on
me-"
The subsequent history of our national
flag has been too often given to need re-
petition in detail. The following Is the
original resolution, adopting theastars and
stripes
Ip Congress. June 18th. 1777 Re.
SotUed, That the dag ofthe thirteen Uni.
ted States be thirteen stripes, alternately
red and white that the Union DO thit-
teen stars, white, IN blue field, rcpresent-
ing nsW eonsteklqtioH.