Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-08-18
THE AMERICAN FLAG.
Why the "Star Spangled Banner" Was
Chnsnn NJ Anr NnlInnnI Enslr 1.

Why the "Star Spangled Banner" Was
Chosen as Oar National Enslgl.
Up to the June OF III, the troops oil
the various American colonies which
had declared their independence of the
mother country had fought under any
ensign which CHANGED to please their
fancy. Most of the New York forces
had fought under flag in which the
stripes and the orange, white and red
of the old Dutch republic were promi-
nent; the Connecticut soldiers had dis
played red flag with the inscription,
"An Appeal to Heaven on one side,
and the Latin motto of the colony,
"Qui transmit sustinet' (lIe that has
transplanted Us will sustain us), on the
other; the South Carolina mon at one
period usel a palmetto banner, and
other colonial forces had flown flags
which had special and local significance,
Commodore Hopkins had put to sea in
February, 1T77, with the first revolu-
tionary feet, displaying a flag of thir-
teen altsrna &c red and white stripes,
with the red and white crosses of st.
George and st. Andrew charged on a
blue 'canton" or square in the upper
corner, This flag was used more than
any other one at the time, June, 1T77,
when the Continental congress, in ses-
sion Mt Philadelphia, appointed com
the colonies.
On June IA this committee made its
report. 1t advised that "the flag of the
thirteen United States be thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white; that
the Union be thirteen stars, white in q
blue field, representing new constclla'
ton" The report was thereupon put
into the form of a resolution, and the
resolution was unan imously passed
without discussion.
1t Is very interesting to study the de
tails of the construction of our flag ant
to learn the various explanations thai
have been given for them, in the alb
sence of authoritative records Let Us
so study them:
Why were stripes chosen to compose
the main body of the flag? One expla
nation which has frequently beer
offered is the fact that stripes-ant
stars, also-were a prominent feature
of Washington's coat of arms; but a.
good Americans we fancy that that cir
cumstancc had little weight with the
committee of the sternly democratic
continental congress of 1777. Another
and probably the correct one, is the
fact that the New York soldiers were
fighting under the folds of u banner
consisting of the stripes of another re
public, the most conspicuous republi,
of modem times, viz, the United Prov
inces of the Netherlands, commonl,
known as the Dutch republic" Choic,
of stripes was, accordingly, tribute t,
a sister republic, and it was also a com
pliment to- the important New Yorl
contingent in the colonial army-a con
tingent then suffering from discourage
ment, as New York City was occupied
by Howe, and Bargoyne was marching
down from the north. Thirteen stripe
were fixed upon Us the correct numbe
on account of the number of the colo
MES
Those who explained the selection o
stripes by the presence of stripes in tn
Washington coat of arms explain tn
selection of stars by the fact that star!
are prominent in that coat of arms Blu
this explanation is usually rejected. !
more generally accepted one is to tn
effect that the adoption of one larg
star in the canton, or union, was urge
as symbolic OF the shining in history O
the new republic, then surrounded b.
the night of affliction and doubt an
that thirteen stars were ultimatel
chosen as indicative of the thirteen CO.
onies. In the can ton of the flag, as use
for many years, the stars were arrange
in the form OF circle in order to tyr
ify the endless character of herepubliC
The colors, red white and blue ar
mobilization of orange, white an
blue, the color5 Of the Dutch republic
and the ones used by New York
forces. They were chosen by the fla
|
stripes were decided upon. Red wa
later explained to be typical of tn
blood patriots were ready to sheC
white, of the purity OF their cause, an
blue of the favor OF Heaven.
Contrasting colors, white and eithe
blue or red, were necessary to be uti
lied for the color5 Of the stripes Re
was preferred to blue because it wa
more distinct at distance. For tn
same reason, red, instead of white wa
chosen as the color of the topmoS
stripe, and consequently of the lowe
) most also. Red AMI white having thu
been already used, the color assigne
the union was necessarily blue, an
the stars in the union were appropr
ately made white. The union wa
made square AMI was brought down
the eighth stripe that its blue might /
showed against white Ia contrastin
color, the color of that stripe.-N. !