The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1892-08-19
Gelen,orrat-S
THE STARS AND STRIPES.

The Quarlermaster- General of
The United States has issued bul.
lelin giving the history Of The ma.
tional flag from the time of the
Declaration Of Independence. BY
a resolution oi Congress in June,
l177, it was ordered that the flag
of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes, alternate red and
white, and that the union he thir.
teen stars, white in a blue field,
representing a new constellation.
The thirteen stripes had been in.
iroduced, in alternate white and
blue, on the upper left hand corn
er0f n standard presented to the
Philadelphia Light Horse by its
captain in l775, and the Union flag
of the thirteen united colonies
raised at Washington's headquar.
ters in January, 1776, hal The thir-
teen stripes just as they are 10.
day. but il also had the crosses of
st. George and 81. Andrew on a
blue ground in the corner. There
is no satisfactory evidence, how.
ever, that any flag bearing the
union 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. II IS claimed that
a Mrs. John Ross. an upholsterer,
who resided in Arch street, Phila.
delphia, was The maker of the first
flag combining the stars and
stripes. Her defendants assert
that committee Of Congress, &C.
companied by General Washing.
ton, who was in Philadelphia in
June, 1776, called upon Mrs. Ross
and engaged her to make The flag
from a rough drawing, which, al
her suggestion, was redrawn by
General Washington with pencil
in her back parlor, and The flag
thus designed was adopted by
Congress. Although the resolution
establishing the flag was not off.
cially promulgated by the Secre-
tary of Congress until September
5, 1777, il seems we'll au' u'hentica,ed
that the stars and stripes were
carried at the battle of Brandy
wine, September II, TIT, and
thenceforward during all the bat
ties of ,he REVOLUTION. Soon after
its adoptron the new flag was
hoisted on the war vessels Of the
United States. The ship Ranger,
bearing the stars and stripes, and
commanded by Captain Paul
Jones, arrived al a French port
about December /, TIT, and her
flag received on February II, ITS,
the first salute ever paid to the
American flag by foreign vessels
The flag remained unchanged for
about eighteen years after its
adoption. BY this time two more
S,ates-Vermont and Kentucky
had been admitted TO the Union,
and in January, 1904, The Con-
gress enacted that from and after
May l, 1875, the flag of the United
States should be fifteen stripes, al.
ternately red and white; that the
union be fifteen stars, white in a
blue field. This was the national
banner from 1895 10 1918. BY
1918 five additional States-Ten.
nessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana
and Mississippi-had been admit.
ted into the Union, and therefore
II further change in The flag was
required. After considerable dis.
cussion in Congress the Act of
April, 1918, was passed, which
provided that the flag of The Unit
ed States should have thirteen
horizontal stripes, alternate red
and white; that The union should
have twenty stars, white in a blue
field and that on the admission
Of every new State into the Union
one star be added to the union of
the flag. The return TO the thir.
teen stripes of the flag Of 1777 was
due, in a measure, to reverence
for the standard OF the Revolu-
tion, but it was also due 10 the
fact that further increase of the
number Of stripes would have
made the width of the flag out of
proportion to lis length unless the
stripes were narrowed, and this
would have impaired their dis.
tinctness when seen from dis
tance. No act has since been pass
ed altering this feature of the flag.
In the war with Mexico the flag
bore twenty stars in its union,
during the Civil war thirty five,
and since July 4, 1891, forty.rour.