The star of Pascagoula. [volume] (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1873-1878, 1877-07-13
OUR FLAG.
UtstOry of the star Spangle. tanner
How ID Came to he Adopted az The
National Emblem.

utstory of The star-Span2le Banner
How ID Came to he Adopted as The
National Emblem.
At the breaking out of the revolu-
tionary war each colony C ung to its own
color; Massachus sets to her green pine
on a white ground, with the motto, IAN
Appleal to Heaven" which motto was on
Putnam's red flag, displayed on Prospect
Hill in july, with the Connecticut state
motto beside it; South Carolina to her
blue banner with a white crescent in the
upper corner near the staff, which the
heroic Jasper recovered and planted on
the battlements of the fort on Sullivan's
island during the furious bombardr emit
by the British fleet of Sir Peter ParLer.
There was probably no flag at all carried
bv the patriots at Lexington, and 1t is
doubtful if they displayed any at Bunker
Hill. Accounts then published are silent
on the subject, and no flags are shown IN
contemporary prints, though a poet
speaks of "waving streamers," and 1t Is
said some of the volunteers carried a red
banner inscribed "Come if you dare"
When late in 1775 congress prepared to
create a navy nothing seems to have
been done about a flag, and commanders
of vessels followed their own devices. A
f~avorite one was the rattlesnake, with
the motto: "Don't touch me-" other
flags carrying a mailed hand clasping
thirteen arrows. Indeed, the rattlesnake
came near of an election to the Ameri-
can escutcheon in place of the immortal
cbicken-thief, the eagle, one writer-per-
haps Ben Franklin-supporting the
choice because the snake was purely
American and an emblem of wisdom and
vigilance, because it never attacked first
nor surrendered, being attacked, and be-
u while its rattles were distinct,
they we're still firmly united and steadily
increased in number. Let us consider
what a fourth of July would have been
with orators condemned to apostrophize
the rattlesnake amid the whizzing OF
Catherine wheels.
Late in 1775 Franklin and two other
gentlemen appointed to create a national
fac met at the camp at Cambridge and
ad0pted the kings colors (the red cress
of St. George on a white field and white
cross of st. Andrew on a blue field), with
! thirteen stripes, alternate red and white,
being the flag already adopted by the
East India company. No record is found
of congress having taken any part in this,
nor il Il known when the new flag was
adopted by law. The origin of the
stripes is not satisfactorily explained. 1t
has been held that the new flag may have
been suggested to Washington by the
banner Of the Philadelphia Light Horse.
which escorted him hither on his way tc
Cambridge. That banner bore a canto
If thirteen stripes, blue and silver; also
that Washington took the. idea from his
own coat-of-arms, as shown in Brighton
church. or from the East 1ndiacompany'E
flag aforementioned, or from the t%ri-colol
of the Netherlands. The grand union .
flag was hoisted at the camp at Cambrldg,
Ian. 21776; it also waved above the Vir
pinia convention which declared the colo
MES free and independent states.
Paul Jones claims to have been the
first to hoist the flag of America over {
regular man.of-war, the Alfred, though
John Adams, of course, disputed this
claiming the honor for a Massachusetts
man. Mr.. Woodman thinks that proba'
bly this flag of Paul Jones was the new
striped flag, though Cooper leans to tht
belief that it was the pine-tree flag witt
a rattlesnake and motto. The first nava
victory under the stripes was certainly
won ky Barney, in the Lexington, Apr
II. l776, when after a severe fight ht
cdntured a British vessel off the Virginif
shore. In July the brig Andreas Dorif
obtained the first salute for the flag a
ST. Eustatia. The Dutch governor wa
afterward removed for returning he
commitment. In the autumn the Repri
ssl. carving Franklin to France, frs
showed the flag in Europe. A record o
the time speaks of the capture of al
American ~privateer o after the loss o
New York which only carried twelv'
stripes.
After the declaration of independence
when the kings arms were taken dow
and burned, it was not possible for hi
emhlems to remain long on the flag, ant
ensigns of various devices are described
as in use during the land battles, Will
; the official banner continued to be tn,
" grand union flag" 1t was on the lat
n 'June. IVY. more than a century ago
that congress voted hat the American
aau should be " thirteen stripes, altern
ate red and white that the union D
thirteen stars, white in a blue held, re
presenting a new constellation" I'M
aag, however, was not a new flag the
designed, but rather the formal adoptio
of one already in existence nearly
twelye-month. There is as much pei
nlexity as to the origin OF the stars 9
thare IS concerning that of the strlpe'
1t has been suggested that they WEI
taken, as well as the stripes, from u
Washington c~oat-ofarms, on which the
appear in chief, or from the consteilstio
e Iiyra, which contains Just thirteen sta
q and is the symbol of harmony and unit.
a but Washington himself makes no me-
& ton of the matter, and the act spesl
q expressly Of a new constellation" Nh