New-York daily tribune., 1861-05-15
FLAGS WHICH HAVE WAVED OVER NEW
YORK CITY.
BY AUGUSTUS X. GARDNER, NJ. ID.

Read bel ore
TIE collection Of largo bodies Of men engaged N
military enterprises and the changing POSSESSION o'
forresses and strategic points rendered some means
necessary to be employed bst frieDdmi be iine
dately distinguished from foe by the eye In anclen'
times, when fighting was mainly haud to band 'ne7e
insignia were small and generally of soild h'"'''
carved from wood or moulded in metal Inc nSu
rcrresented were oferes animals or BIRDS oil suP''eu
bravery, as the Ion eagle, etc. sometimes
Of the gods as Jupiter Mars, &ci or their emoC' as
the eagle of Jove holding the thundel ooNs oi e'o
in his grasp -. l; =
Ionce~ ronoe and fhe collection of armies arayed
against one another In civil sI1ie' composed oi uoo
having the same general appearance and similarly
clo5bed IL became sary 70 nave more clsIl SUsh
inc marks and perceptiblc at longer distances. For
these insipnis or eusgns as they were and are yet
called small bits OF colored cloth, which waved IN The
breeze were substituted by the SaraCens, ana TIE nag
acoured It's present shape and form in Spain duling
the sixth century previous 10 which tine the entigns
of war stretched upon WOOD which iact Il Hdi-
Gated by the French name of partition, which also
means a tent, OF something stretched out.
The French name of drIpcaa means also clotni
while the FL gish word flag iS deprived from tile
AngO-SaXon fcogGR, having no more exalted Or sug'
eesive meaning than simply, 60 fly.
With this brief chronological preface, Will proceed
directly to he subject Of this paper, viz, TO- short
waved over this city. Ii would be pleasant TO con-
tinue this investigation further aud embrace all tla
have foated the whole Of the national territory,
but the very short time wbieh has elapsed since the
dag of our country attacked but not dsgraeed at
Fort Sumter has been insufficient to allow for more
extended researches and must be the excuse foT tne
obvious defects in the present paper.
The aborgines of America bad no nag ara no lhslS
MIA Of authority save the larger tent o, the chlef ana
bis more ornate adornments, numerous attendants etc
The first European visitor 20 this state ana clty was
Hudson, who IN 1909 sailed up the river now bearing
lis name. There Is not however as nave oeen so'e
to find any record that he or any OF bis crew put loot
upon the soil of Manhattan, although he went ashore
at Sandy Hook on his entrance into the haroor and
on returning from his exploratory visit up the nYer
again went ashore at Hoboken Ihe nag under WDlch
he sailed was that Of the Dutch East India Company
and was the fag Of the United Provinces OF Neither
lands with the initials of the Dutch name OF this Com
pany, G.. o. c., upon it.
The national ensign Of the United Provinces was
adopted about the wear 1882 at the suggestion OF VIII
ham, first Prince Of Nassau and Orange. Ii was com
posed OF the Princes c0ors, orange, WHITE ana oile
ARRANGED in three equal horizontal stripes After the
death OF William III. Cl65Ol, red stripe was suosu
tued for tie orange and the Dutch ensign at the pres
emf dav remains what IL thus modified two cen
turies ago ~. c. de Jonge Over den Corsprnng der
Nederlandsche Flag" lS3l-262S). BoOrhead \. \.
From the time Of the discovery, visitor came into
these waters of whom we have any record till in
I6l2 three years later and after Hudsons death,
when the Island Of Manhattan was settled under tho
East Iuda Company, who continued IN reaceinl pcs
session till l6.2 when the Government fell into The
hands Of the West India Company, tie flag, however
receiving no other change except the alteration OF the
initials of the East India Company to that of the West
India Company-from G.. o. &. to q. w. Z.
This was the dominant flag till 1904 when tbsisand
was surrendered 10 the English. Charles H. gave the
territory Of New Netherlands to his brother, James
Duke of York. The Duke sent an English squadron,
under Richard Nicholls to secure the GIFT and Oh the
Sd OF September, 1864 the Union Jack OF England
snppIanted the tr-coOr Of Holland, foated IN triumph
over the fort, and the name OF NeW-Aus'eruaih was
changed to New-Y0Ik.
TIE name of Union Jack is derived from the union
Of the three crosses Of St. George, ST. Andrew, ana
ST. Patrick originally the embems OF the Three King
doms of England Scotland and Ireland, united IN the
Kin,dom of Great Britain; while the name of Jack
was probablv derived from james OF England; the
long nbrase Of the Union Flag Of james French
IacGnes-became BY elision the L mon Jack Another
but less probable Interpretation gwen by MI schuyler
il that was derived from the jackets Of tie soldiers
upon which the cross, aferward placed in the tss was
displayed
his conquest wac al easy one, for the people were
not unwilling. Bat England and Holland soon quar-
the bay and, without fling shot, took possession OF
the fort and town. This bl0Odlefs victory Was the
work Of i~,ason and from July, l5l 8, Until Novem
Der. 1914, New-York was again New-Nelhefialus'
The Dutch however, enjoy their authority but Il
shor time as on the 9th Of February, l6l1, treaty
the 9Th article of which restored this country to En-
gland and It's surrender being made Nov TO- 1914, the
red erosa again hoated over this city.
From this time there was no Direction 70 or inter-
rpnton in the supremacy OF the English until the year
I6sq when the memorable rule OF Leslef, speedily
terminated by bis death, occurred. lie was a warm
supporter of William and Mary, and is possible that
willie be held possession Of the fort, and when por-
ton Of the city were in arms in Opposition, that oy
one or the other partyif by either probably BY Leis
ler-the flag of William, not then proclaimed King Of
Enoland in the place Of James, might have foated
over New-York. However possible thls may be, L
have in the limited time permitted for investigation,
been unable 10 find any statement sustaining such
conjecture.
Were it 50. however il could have been but for a
very bnef period, and the English flag waved undis
putcd till the era Of the Amer an Revolution.
About this time dissatisfaction arising with the home
Government in various States numerous collections OF
the people were made varying in character from mob
10 delberative assembly and gradually without con.
cert the inhabitants Of several OF the states adopted
banners and flags with and without devices, at first
intending merely TO make their existence people
known and implying thereby that people they bad
rights which should be recognized AS the feeling grew
stronger notices and inscriptions more or less inam
matory and rebelous, were added
The Massachusetts c00nlsts adopted white nag with
green rine tree upon it. The South Carolina coonists
took instead, rattlesnake with the inscription Don't
tread on me- Sometimes the snake was divided into
sections with the name Of State affixed 10 each, with
the motto "Join or de-" The Connecticut clas-
sically and religions bore the simple motto, without
device Qui tTaasfrib SuStiHei, He who brought Us
hher with sustain us.
When however, there more concerted
action among the colonies, and army collected
around Boston, the first flag adopted was a union OF
the flags of some of the separate colonies, red nag
with the notices QUi tr0RstuH sustinef, and the
reverse the words, Z" An Appeal TO Heaven while
the flag Of the floating batteries was white with
green piue tree, and for motto "An Appeal to
Heaven This was before the union Of the thirteen
colonies. 80
Af,nr thnt 11ninn and nnnn the organization of the