The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-07-01
The United States Flag.

A national flag is the emblem Of ma
tional sovereignty. Hence, an insult
offered to 8 nations flag is everywhere
held to be an insult to the nation itself;
and such insult, unless acknowledged
and apologized for, may become cause
Of war. The apology in such cases is
made by suitable written expression
of regrets and by firing national salute
pftwenty-one guns in the presence of
the insulted flag. This is called, 'salut'
Ing the iag;" ana is construed as full
recognition Of the sovereignty that the
Tag represents.
In order to make flag national, its
style and emblems must be prescribed
by law. And flag not made in con-
formity with the specifications of the
law need not be recognized abroad by a
foreign nation, nor by foreign ships of
war when met at sea. To neglect or re-
fuse the customary salutes to such a tic-
titious flag is not an insult to the nation
al flag.
The air is now filled with futtering
banners in anticipation of the coming
"Centennial Fourth" 1t may therefore
not be amiss to state exactly what it is
that constitutes the Public Flag OF the
United States.
Our present star-spangled Banner is
not so old as the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. 1t is growth from smaller
beginnings. At the beginning of our
Revolutionary war it was quite un-
known. The troops then marched under
banners of various devices, and gen.
orally bearing patriotic notices. The
"stripes" of our present banner, it is
said, were first used by Philadelphia
troop OF horse as early as 1775. The iol-
lowing year, when Washington took
command OF the army at Cambridge he
unfurled his flag Of thirteen stripes with
the cross OF ST. George and st. Andrew
emblazoned on the s'tield." 1t was not
till TIT that Congress ordained Ma
tional flag, to consist of "thirteen stripes
alternate white and red; that the Union
be thirteen stars, white in blue field,
representing a new constellation"
In 1794 Congress modified the flag by
the addition of two more stripes and
two more stars, in compliment to Ver-
mont and Kentucky, which had then
been admitted into the Union as States /;
and this continued to be the flag down
to. 1918. Then Congress ordained that
the National Flag should have thirteen
stripes alternate red and white, and
thirty-seyen stars in a blue field, and an
additional star upon the admission OF
any new State beyond that number.
and that is now the lawful National
Flag OF the United States of America.
Although not prescribed by law, the
regulations" to be observed in making
an American Flag are as follows:
Whatever may be the required length,
the width is to be two-tifths of the
Iength. Thus, for a fiteen-ieet flag,
the width would be six feet; Tor q
six-feet flag, the width would be two
feet and five inches. The alternate ar
rangement OF the stripes should begin
with the red; and the whole number
being odd, OF course it will end with q
red. The blue ''ieid'' is placed in the
upper corner next to the staff. The size
Of the s'feld" should be one-half the
width and one-fifth the length of the Hag.
This, Of course, results in a square OF
pne-haH of The flag's width. BY this the
base Of the 'field' is brought 10 the mid.
die Of the seventh stripe counting from
the top, which is red. But frequently,
for convenience in making, it rests on
The top of that stripe; and this causes
lhe disproportion often observable in
ihis regard.
One hundred years ago such flag had
never yet fioated in the earth's atmos-
phere; now it floats in every land and on
Ihe sea, and is everywhere respected.
hL0pg may it Waye.D