St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1892-08-06
STARS AND STRIPES.
AN OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE
AMERICAN FLAG.
Issued by the Quartermaster-Gener
of the Army-How the Stars Are
Arranged.

, the numerous and diversified queries thu
-, come to his office from the patriot
curious. The statements are the result -,
research on the part of the clerks of III
department, and mnv be accepted as ac
enrat", or at least, as official. The bull,
, TIN bears the stirring title The Stars an
Stripes, and is as follows:
The American Congress, in session q
Philadelphia, established by its rcsolu
ton Of June "A, III. national fac 70
the United States of America. The tcso
luton was as follows:
Resolved, That the flag of the Thirteen
United States be thirteen stripes, alternat
red and white; that the union be Thrice,
stars white in blue field, REPRESENTING
new constellation.
Although nearly year previous. Jul,
=, l'l6, those thirteen United States haf
been declared independent, this rcsoIu
ton is the first Legislative action recorded
relating to national flag for the new
sovereignty.
The use of thirteen stripes was not ,
new feature, az they had been introduced
I'm alternate white and blue on the I'D
per lett hand corner of standard prc
sented to the Philadelphia Light Hors.
by its Captain in the early part of 1875
and moreover the Union flag of the thir.
teen united colonies raised at Washing
tons Headquarters, at Cambridge. Jan.
2, 1910, had the thirteen stripes lust as
they are this day, but it also had the
crosses of St. George and st. Andrew on
a blue ground in the corner There is nc
satisfactory evidence, however, that any
flag bearing the union of the stars had
been in public use before the resolution
of June, 1777.
1t IS not known to whom the credit of
designing the Stars and Stripes is due.
1t is claimed that Mrs. John Ross. an
upholstercr who resided an Arch street,
| Philadelphia, was the maker of the first
flag combining the stars and stripes. Her
| descendants assert that a committee of
| Congress, accompanied by Gen. Wash
ington, who was in Philadelphia in June,
1916, called upon Mrs Ross and engaged
her to make the flag from a rough draw
ing which, at her suggestion, was re-
drawn by Gen. Washington with pencil
IN her back parlor, and the flag thus de-
signed was adopted by Congress.
Although the resolution establishing
the nag was not officially promulgated
by the Secretary of Congress until Sept.
3, 1717, it seems we'll authenticated that
the Stars and Stripes were carried at the
battle of the Brandywine, Sept. II. 1771.
and thenceforward during all the battles
Of the Revolution.
Soon after its adoption the new flag
was hoisted on the naval vessels of the
United States. The ship Ranger, bear
ing the Stars and Stripes, and com
manded by Capt. Paul Jones, arrived at
French port about Dec. /, 1777. and
her flag received on Feb. IA, 1878, the
first salute ever paid to the American
flag by foreign naval vessels.
The flag remained unchanged for about
eighteen years after its adoption. By
this time two more States vermont and
Kentucky had been admitted to the
Union, and on Jan. 18th, 1894, Congress
enacted that from and after the 1st day
of May, 1895, the flag of the United
States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and
white that the Union be fifteen stars, |
white in a blue field
This flag was the national banner from
1875 to 1918, during which period oc-
cured the war of 1912 with Great Britain. |
By 1918 five additional States Tennessee,
Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi |
had been admitted into the Union, and |
therefore further change in the flag |
seemed to be required After consider
able discussion in Congress on the subject, |
the act of April 4, 1913. was passed |
which provided:
Flrst-''That from and after the 4th
day of July next the flag of the United
States be thirteen horizontal stripes, al
ternatc red and white; that the union
have twenty stars, white in blue field"
Second-"That on the admission of
every new State into the Union. one star
be added to the union of the flag, and
that such addition shall take effect on
the 4th day of July next succeeding such
admission
The return to the thirteen stripes of
the l771 flag was due in measure to a
reverence for the standard of the Rcvo-
luton but it was also due to the fact that
4 further increase of the number of strips
would have made the width of the flag
out of proportion to its length unless the
stripes were narrowed, and this would
nave impaired their distinctncss when
'cen from distance. A newspaper of
he time said:
'By this regulation the thirteen stripes
will resrcscnt the number of States whose
'alor and resources originally effected
American independence, and the addition
Il stars will mark the increase of the |
states since the present Constitution s
No act has since been passed by Con I
'ress altering this feature of the flag, and f
is the same as originally adopted, ex- t
ept as the number of stars in it's union t
n the war with Mexico the national flag r
'ore twenty nine stars in its union, dur !
ng the late civil war thirty FIVE and a
ince July 4, 1891, forty-four stars. In 0
one of the acts of Congress relating to t.
ne flag has the manner of arranging the f
tars been prescribed, and in conse- C
uence there has been lack of uniform il
y in the matter, and flags in use of the a
ublic generally may be seen with the h
tars arranged in various ways. a
The early custom was to insert the p
lars in parallel rows acress the blue field, t.
nd this custom has, it is believed, been d
bseryed, in the navy at least, since 1913, OF
which time the President ordered the d.
airs to be arranged in such manner on te
lie national flag used in the navy. In p1
lie army, too it is believed the stars |
ave always been arranged in horizontal
,ws across the blue field, but not always
vertical rows; the effect, however, be-
e about the same as in the naval flag.
Hereafter there will be no difference in
lie arrangement between the army and IL
he navy, as an agreement has been ar
we'd Mt between the War and NAVY De- | -,