Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-12-01
TnE STARS AND STRIPES


A.
| Aanerican Flag.
In respone to communication OF in-
| luiry We give the following, compiled
| from the most authoritative and relia-
BILE sources: In the beginning Of the
Revolution variety Of flags were dis
played in the revolted colonies. After
the hattie Of Lexington the Connecticut
troops displayed ON their standards the
arms ct the colony with the motto:
| (t&i trdlastatlH susfinet; and later, by
the act Of the Provincial Congress, the
regiments were distinguished by the va
rious colors Of their flags. II is uncer-
tain what flag, if any, was used by the
Americans at the battle Of Bunker Hill.
The first armed vessels commissioned
by Washington sailed under the flag
adopted 10y the Provincial Congress of
Massachusetts, AS the one to be borne on
the flag OF the cruisers of that colony
"a white flag with green pine tree. !"
The first republican flag nnfurled in the
Southern States--blue. with q white
crescent il. the upper corner next to the
staff-was designed by Col. William
Moultrie, Of Charleston, s. C., at the
request Of the Committee of Safety, and
was hoisted on the Notifications of that
city in September, l775
The official organ of the "grand
Union" flag is involved in obscurity.
At the time of its adoption at Cam
bridge the colonies still acknowledged
the legal rights of the mother country,
and therefore retained the blended
crosses of st. George and St. Andrews,
al, kl,eE Hl1 rs hr clI
sign for the thirteen stripes emblem
attic OF their union. The color OF
the stripes may have been suggested
by the red flag Of the army, and the
white flag Of the navy, previously in
use. Congress resolved, on June IA,
l777, that the flag Of the thirteen United
States be thirteen stars, white in q blue
field. representing new constellation. I"
This is the first recorded Legislative ac
ton for the adoption Of national flag.
The thirteen stars were arranged in q
circle, although no form was prescribed
| officially. The flag thus adopted re-
named unchanged until 1874 when, on
motion of Senator Bradley, OF New
York, it was resolved that from and
after May /, 1895. "the flag OF the
United States be fifteen stripes, alter
nate red and white. that the union be
fifteen stars, white in blue field. 4"
This was the flag used in the war of
lS12-14. This act made no provisions
for future alterations, and none were
made until 1918, although several new
States had meanwhile been admitted
into the Union.
In 1916, on the admission Of Indiana,
q committee was appointed ito inquire
into the expediency OF altering the
flag" A bill was reported on January
2, 1918, but was not acted on, which
embodied the suggestions of Capt. Sam
uel G. Reid, q distinguished naval Off
Ger, who recommended the reduction
Of the stripes to the original thirteen.
and the adoption of stars equal to the
number Of States, formed into one
large star, and new star to be
added on the Fourth of July next
succeeding the admission OF each new
State. On April 4, 1913, bill en-
bodying these suggestions, with the ex-
ception OF that designating the manner
OF arranging the stars, was approved
by the President, and ON the 18th of
the same month tho flag thus estab-
lished was hoisted over the Hall of
Representatives at Washington, al
though its legal existence did not be-
gin until the following Fourth of July.
In 1859. when Congress passed q
vote Of thanks to Capt. Reid, the de-
signer Of the flag, it was suggested that
the mode of arrangement of the stars
should be prescribed by law, but the
matter was overlooked. The stars in
the unions of flags used in the War De-
partment of the Government are gen.
orally arranged in one large star; in
the navy flags they are invariably set
in parallel lines. The blue union of
stars, when used separately, is called
the union jack. The United States
revenue flag, adopted in 1893, consists
OF sixteen perpendicular stripes,
alternately red and white, the
union white, with the national arms in
dark blue. The nnion used separately
constitutes the revenue jack. The
American yacht flag is like the national
flag, with the exception Of the union.
which is a white foul anchor in q circle
of thirteen stars. in blue field.-Iir-
ginia (Ner.) Enterprise.