The Portland daily press., 1874-06-18
TERMS $500 PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE

blue and white was copied from the French
out OF gratitude for the good will which Hem
ry LII. showed to the struggling United Prov
Inces; but Jonge denies even that, and will
have it that the Nassau colors were not or
ange only, but orange, white and blue
whence came, he says, the old cry of Holland,
'OranJe bowen ~ (orapge above, as a refer
ence 10 the position of the orange in the en-
sign. And yet this famous Nassau orange
1.-THE name of which came, after all. from a
nttle prlnclpaty in France) was replaced by
Ieu Tor some cause, and at some date un-
AuoWh, before the end of the seventeenth
century; Even William, when he came to
% uleat britain in 1888, wore above his own
SIanuaru pennant of red, white, and blue
LEW; nele we inay open parenthesis, and draw
attention to the fact that this tricolor has
been largely initiated. The Dutch pattern
has been copied in various colors, and with or
without changes in the field, by France. Bel
GUM, Italy, Mecklenburg. Roumania, Seryia.
and the German Confederation, and Russia,
too, for its merchant vessels while in the two
Americas, it has been adopted by the major-
" OF the governments south of the United
States. OF the four essential types into
which navy ensigns may be divided-arms,
crosses, stripes, and tricOlors-arms are bla-
zoned by Prussia, Austria, Spain, Portugal,
and Brazil; crosses are employed by Russia.
Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Oldenburg,
and Norway; stripes by very few; while tr-
colors are now flown by no less than nine
teen several states. And yet, with all this
multiplicity OF adoption, and with all their
varied contrasts, the tricolors have never be-
come grand colors to look at. That white
standards should be dull was to. have been
expected, and the two of them which the
Bourbons carried in France and Naples,
proved what cherries color white is for
banner; but it might have been supposed that
red, white, and blue, especially when imper-
ally sprinkled with golden bees and with the
crown and eagle in the centre. would make a
grand effect. And vet those Napoleopic coli
ors faded almost into dullness beside the i'm
perlal and yellow flag of Austria, with its
double-headed, thrice crowned sable eagle,
charged with shields of arms and with the
collar OF the Golden Fleece, surrounded by its
triangulated border Of red, yellow, white, and
black. And even this again turns pale " hen
it is compared 10 the royal standard of tie
King of Prussia, which is by far the noblest
flag that flies. Nothing that silk or bunting
has ever shown can approach the glory
OF the iron cross on the red-purple field,
all covered with black eagles and golden
crowns, Illuminated by the white edges OF the
cross, and by the central white escutcheon.
1t really is superb and such of us as saw it
waving over the Prefecture at Versailles will
well remember how the splendor of its aspect
looked worthy of the grandeur of its career.
Most other flags are in the happy state of
having no history that is worth telling; and
| even If they had, it would not be possible to
| narrate here the origin of each one of them,
| for there are so many that the mere enumer-
| alton would occupy several pages.