Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-01-12
CENTENNIAL SKETCHES.
ouR NATIONAL flag.

~, Nal. ,.tio,, ~ rndanepdencc. an
~. ! ~. :, c,sn ! ~" h;rth ~ n nation Int n
",sa ,,,tnsssed Tho R,st unfolding of
thc Asg which has bccome the symbol
or a mi,htv nowcr Tho pride of many
v,;il;or so,;is and which will float as
Ionr os tho nrlncinles of that Declare
t;on dwell IN the hearts of men. There
r,,,st, be anne sturdy fighting done bc.
fore such hold words are spoken, and
men cannot figx without n fIag, and
az ,sold olorvp was horn on the ID of
January l776. lust ono hundred years
AGO
Tbe idea of A s'union fiae," as Il was
called had lopg been familiar 10 the
American colonists. The flags In use
throughout tho province before tho
revolution were chiefly those of Eng
land, and, though there were many
other devices, they were nearly always
couplcd with some feature of the Brit
ish colors The old English flag had
been the rcd cross of s: George on u
white field but in 1906 King James /.
combined with il tho white cross of 81.
Andrew on a blue field, because Eng.
ianJ ." and S Scotland had ,Lon hocomo
nn;tod % IN in ono I;nodom In 1707 tbe
aaios 90 ,,;s a., s,ss ohonaod 20 erin
oo' eon oud y, ,' ,ho nrpssos @ m wh;ob had bofnre
filled the whole banner, were now con
fined to the upper corner. This was
,ko c,,o,s ar,atoor Aoop of ENGLAND
'rh;oh nH | tooI ;,s nrosent % so,m IN isoi
'rpnn VIZ" ~" oA o,nas @ S - G, pa,r;oL nos
VII mhI .n0 ~. ~ osS a,,o. ,,. Tha oross
"sS usu :, eoo ~ .no o.n I'm ~" NJ honnar uh;oh
la ~ .ho 'Ts Tas',,;sh odnon,nrars to tho;r
e.. c. 'no nonanas, % !, mon;oa and donh,
,nnN o' soaIJ''s ,.iJ ",a,' ~ ,hn pns;,ams M r,San
@ '.s' .ta, "a'IJ L,os,' ~ naaau,Lon wy % Ja", ,ho,,
w. Ino,, ,""S w oI"1 tIa .s,orn ' aud ro"l l honn1
49,. y" - ;sJsI -
e1"Ss 20 -. Nv. ~ y mou.n, - ~ I'LL, ~. % a,;ii
,asd VIZ ooa o,1 os y ,hn m d"ononnS & yh hon @
,J'oui alI % y, InI;'n nI"a"' ''"' o"'' ""'
'"I "aI H. 'olo do,os,n,;on - oe a,ono,,,p ,ros
nu. " Wv ao.Js'on wv ,'.aoa,o,, y, poEny "
~ eI1ons ""' "a'VuIu'.ap'O iIa anaaons
the iuri,ais ina, en9y "unorreu w
ery'h'ng whion rci'l''uvu snv9i I9',,' u ~
and many were found who dlsliked the
cross in the banner because 1t had been
even 70 Englahu py PoPoi ,cns hn,s
,1onpg Srauaay 'nu,oasea .. " .,, ~ d",a loo
Mr.. Endicott tore out part OF the cross
from the flag then flying at Salem
This was thought by some to mean
treason, but Mt the trial II appeared
that Endicott was moved only by a
belief that 1t was idolatrous to let the
cross remain. Two months later the
ministers OF Ipswich met IN Boston TO
see II 1t was right to keep the cross IN
the banner. They failed to agree, and
the subject was referred TO the general
court Meanwhile the military officers
ordered all designs to be laid aside. In
December, 1888, it was ordered that
all the colors should have the kings
arms instead Of the crosses, and this
new flag was raised over the fort IN
Boston harbor But this unsettled
state Of affairs had made much trouble
in the fort. While the colony was
without colors, the castle looked like
a deserted fortress, and, after the new
ensign was adopted, English sailors
complained that the people were tral-
tors and rebcls-not flying the kings
colors. So, being fearful Of displeasing
the English government, the colonists
allowed the regular standard to float
over the castle, but nowhere else IN
the province. Dutch visitors to Bos-
ton as late as 1850 noticed that the
flags contained no crosses, while the
pine-trec was a favorite device. The
red cross of 81, George, however, grad
ually worked its way back into favor
until, in 1!7o, the union flag, created
txf vapnaa | Ia IGuG trau nrIaraI hxy