The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-07-09
STARS AND STRIPES.
An Official History Of the Amer
ican EiGg.
Established by Congress il june. f779 :.
Its First Salute by q Foreign Naval
vessel-How the Stars Are
Arranged.

The guartermaster general OF the
army has been SO bothered with cues
tons regarding the American flag that
he has issued bulletin which is in
tended to meet the numerous and diver
sified queries that come TO his Office
from the patriotic curious The state
ments are the result of research on the
part of the clerks of the Department.
and may be accepted as accurate, or, at
least, as official The bulletin, which
will soon be issued, bears the stirring
title The Stars and Stripes" and is "a
follows:
The American congress, fn session At Phf1s-
telphia. established by its resolution Of JUMP
Il III, a national nag for the United States Of
America The resolution was as follows:
Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United
States be thirteen stripes. alternate red and
white; that the union be thirteen stars, white
In blue field, representing hew constellation
Although nearly year previous, July 4. ITS
these thirteen United States had been declared
Independent, this resolution Is the first legtsla-
tive action recorded relating TO a national Tag
for the new sovereignty.
The use Of thirteen stripes was not a new
nate white and blue) on the upper lefthand
corner Of q standard presented 70 the PfiIadel-
phia Light Horse By its captain In the early
part Of l775. and moreover the union flag Of the
thirteen united colonies raised at Washington's
headquarters, at Cambridge, Jan 2, lT6, had
the thirteen stripes Just as they are this day,
but II also had the crosses Of St George and
St Andrew on blue ground In the corner.
There is no satisfactory evidence, however, that
N fa1 hearirC nvior of the had
IN public use before the resolution Of June, I77s.
It Is not known 70 whom the credit of design
ing the stars and stripes Is due II is claimed
that Mrs. John Ross an upholsteyer who re
sided on Arch street, Philadelphia, was the
maker Of the first flag com ointng the stars and
stripes. Her descendants assert that COM
nittee of congress. accompanied by Gen Wash
ington, who was In Philadelphia in June, 1775
called upon Mrs. Ross and engaged her to make
the flag from rough drawing, which, ct her
suggestion, was redrawn by Gen. Washington
with pencil in her back parlor, and the flag thus
designed was adopted by congress-
Although the resolution establishing the flag
was not officially promulgated by the secretary
Of congress until September 8. TIT, it seems
well authenticated that the stars and stripes
were carried at the battle Of the Brandywine
September IL, III, and thenceforward during
all the battles of the revolution
Soon after its adoption the new flag was hoist
ed on the naval vessels of the United States.
The ship ranger bearing the stars and stripes,
and commanded by Capt Paul Jones, arrived
at a French port about December /, l777, and
Der flag received on February Il, i77a 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 January Is.
1894. congress enacted that from and after The
1st day Of May 1885, 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
1913, during which period occurred the war OF
1872 with Great Britain. BY 1878 ave additional
states Tennessee, Ohio. Louisiana, Indiana and
Mississippi had been admitted into the union
and therefore a further change in the flag
seemed to be required. After considerable dis
cussion in congress on the subject the act Of
April 4, 1918, was passed, which provided:
First-"That from and after the 4th day of
July next the flag Of the United States be tllir-
teen horizontal stripes. alternate 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 ofJuly next succeed.
ing such admission"
The return TO the thirteen stripes Of the l777
fag was due, in a measure, to q reverence for
the standard Of the revolution, but was also due
TO the fact that further increase OF the number
OF stripes would have made the width OF the flag
out OF proportion to its length unless the stripes
were narrowed and this would have impaired
their distinctness when seen from . distance.
A newspaper Of the time said:
by this regulation the thirteen stripes will
represent the number OF states whose valor and
resources originally effected American inde-
pendence, and the additional stars will mark
the increase OF the states since the present con-
stitutton'
No act has since been passed by congress al
tering this feature Of the flag, and IL is the Same
as originally adopted, except as TO the number
Of stars in its union IL tue war with Mexico
the national flag bore twenty nine stars in It's
union, during the late civil war thirty-fve, and
since July 4, 1891, forty-four stars In none Of
the acts OF congress relating to the flag has the
manner OF arranging the stars been prescribed
and in consequence there has,been lack Of uni
formity in the matter, and flags in use Of the
public generally may be seen with the stars ar
ranged in various ways.
The early custom was to insert the stars In
parallel rows across the blue field, and this Gus
tom has, II is believed, been observed, In the
navy at least since 1918, at which time the pres
ident ordered the stars to be arranged IN such
manner on the national flag used il the navy. In
the army, too. it is believed the stars have al
ways been arranged in horizontal rows across
the blue field, but not always in vertical rows:
the effect however, being about the same as In
the naval flag.
Hereafter there will be no difference in sne
arrangement between the army and the nayys
as an agreement has been arrived at between
the war and navy departments on the subject
Since July 4, 1891, the arrangement of stars