The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-07-13
Our Flag.
fSt. Nicholas for July. |

Every nation has its flag. Every shipin
foreign waters is known by the colors she
shows at her peak. The French frigate
hoists her bunting of three vertical
stripes, red, white and blue; the English
man-ofwar shows a red flag with the
crosses of st. George and st. Andrews on
blue union in the upper left-hand cor
ner; and the Austrian a double-keaded
black eagle, on a yellow ground-every
nation with name and place, having
its own appropriate symbol.
When we were colonies of England we
sailed and fought under her flag. Twenty
years before the Revolution, when we
were at war with the French and their
allies, the Indians, many brave man,
in some hot skirmish with Indians, would
have welcomed the sight of the red flag
of Engand-it would mean aid and COM
fort when soreiy pressed.
But the time was coming when he was
to hate it as he had hated the French
colors. The time was coming when the
sight OF it was to mean oppression and
tyranny to him, and every feeling Of his
nature would be reused against it. Every
child knows how we finally rebelled; it
was nothing less, and, to England, our
George Washington was merely lead
ing rebel. 1t was a bold proceeding.
We were thirteen little States fringed
along on the Atlantic coast, with the I'M
broken forest behind us, and among the
family of nations we had neither place
nor name. We were like the last new
boy at public school-we had to fight
to obtain due respect from all the great
old nations who were looking on.
Of course we had no flag; we had to
earn that too. For a Year or so our
privateers carried the Massachusetts
State flag. 1t was better, they thought,
than the English flag, at any rate. The
field was of white bunting; in the mid
die, green pine tree, and on the oppo-
site side the motto, "Appeal to Heaven"
Washington, in his character of Gen
eral in Chef, commissioned several
privateer schoOners, ana they all carried
this flag.
The Alfred was one of the few large
ships we had, and she carried the pine
tree flag, and beside that, one with thir-
teen stripes, in red and white, but with
no stars; while on the stripes was coiled a
rattle-snake, with the motto, "Don't
tread on me-" The rattle-snake being
found only in America, there was, OF
course, a peculiar meaning in this en-
blem.
In the early part Of the Revolution,
some of the South Carolina regiments
carried the palmetto-tree on their flag.
That was very good symbol, and the
State yet keeps it on her coat ofarms,
though it grows everywhere in the
South. The palmetto logs at Fort Moul-
trie were found very good things to re-
ceive cannon balls when that fort was
besieged by the British in June of 1776.
There was this multiplicity OF flags,
because we did not what we were. No
nation had acknowledged us as belong ng
to their great family yet; in fact, we had
not quite cut loose from England, yet
we were fighting her with all our might,
and it seemed absurd to be under her
colOrs. In the fight at Bunker Hill, the
flag planted in the corner of that famous
redoubt was of blue bunting, with the
cross of st. George in red in the corner
and pine tree-that same pine tree
in the upper right hand quarter of the
cross.
Our army at Cambridge celebrated
New Years day, Jan. /, 1776, not a.
the Chinese, by firing crackers and il
Illuminating lanterns in the evening, mol
yet by making calls, but by unfurline
for the first time in an American camp
the flag of thirteen stripes. But ever
then we had not declared ourselves in
dependent of Great Britain, and this hae
had the British union in the corner, and
the crosses of St. Andrew and S. George
Finally, on the 18th of June, 1776
Congress, which met then in Philadel
phia, settled upon our style of flag. at
shall have" said they, thirteen stripes
alternate red and white, and the union
of the States shall be indicated by thir
teen stars, white. in a blue field, repre-
senting a new constellation"
1t was not until about forty years age
that it was decided to add another stal
for every new State as it joined the
Union. So that the constellation as it j,
now, with nearly forty stars in it, has
grown good deal from the original thir
teen. But the stripes still remain the
same in number, to remind us of the first
little band of States who "fougnt il out y
against Great Britain.
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