The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-23
FIGS OF TIE NATIONS.
-, =, FEW ARE OF EARLIER ORIGIN
THAN THE LAST CENTURY.


vi. decoration to-day, and has played
eraa.er part in decorating history. There's
.-.er for a good book in the stories of
-ss rbat have been done in all countries
all times TO save national emblems
s-, calling into the hands of enemies.
7,.- record would be very long one, for
....u IN The early Egyptian days men de-
.-7.l the standards at any cost, but
,sose carly standards were of metal and
... waving flag belongs TO times compar-
,+ysIy modern, while few Of the national
Tsrs in use to-day can go further back
t,4. the last century for their origin
During the middle ages banners we're
.rsi,.,lnal rather than national, and each
TN and knight bore his own device.
v-seo national emblems were used they
Nora of religious character, and many
of the modern flags bear traces of this Ne
,;.io1e symbolism. For centuries the ma
,f5nal standard of England bore the cross
&. George where the uion is now plac-
~ This was in graceful recognition of
O. GEORGES help at the siege of Antioch.
THE English soldiers, so says the legend
were faint and wavering, when an 'nnu-
rosrable host of heavenly soldiers, in white,
descended. led by St. George, put the enc
INV 10 fight. and thoughtfully showed the
r,oerv Englshmen where to find food.
I7ror that day the English swore by st.
George and none other, until under James
scotland and England were united.
Then there was trouble for Britons and
The obstinate Scots refused TO admit
that there was any saint in the calendar
who could compare with St. Andrew, To
he sure. he had never led reintorcements
~ their aid. but they had fought under his
white cross on a blue ground ever since
ne had appeared to Achains, King OF
SCOTS before a great battle with Athel-
staue. and had promised victory TO the
scottish arms The Scots wouldn't all
low the cross of st. George TO outrank the
cross Of St Andrew, and the difficulty had
hardly been settled when Ireland came
into.the union, and st. Patrick was can
didate for honors. The partisans of both
st. George and st. Andrews set their races
against the intruder, and said that ne was
no saint and that by rights he didn't own
a cross because he never laid down his life
for faith However, The Irish ontended
that under English rule their cross was
heavy enough to do for St. Patricks, too,
and now the flag of Great Britain bears
the crosses OF three saints, though the
adic authorities gave ST. Patrick's en-
bem advantage.
The history of the stars and stripes is too
well known to Americans to need much
comment Al the beginning of the rev.
oluuon flags of many different designs
sprang up and it was not until 17H that
Washington and his advisers deeided upon
national flag which was the basis of the
present emblem. A Mrs. Ross, of Arch
street. Philadelphia carried out the design
which proved so satisfactory that it was
adopted by Congress and has not been
changed save in the number of the stars
and Stripes and the arrangement of the
former
Red white and blue are the favorite col
ors of flag heraldry and are found in many
of the national flags. The tri-color of
France really dates no further back than
the revolution. The earliest national en-
5om Of France was the blue chape of ST.
Martin later the red ori1amme of st.
Denis came into use, and the Bourbon
kings fought under white banner. The
ln-color Is a Renaissance of the three
banners which had hoated over victorious
armies of France. 1t was retained under
The empire though Napoleon powdered it
with golden bees. The return of the
Bourbons set it aside and after the second
revolution there was movement to adopt
the bood-red flag, but Louis Blanc turn
speech celebrating the past victories of
France.
The German flag was devised after the
union of the German states, which oc-
earred at the close of the Franco-Prussian
war. The arms of the Hohenzollerns and
tae famous Teulonic iron cross are its
most conspicuous features
Inc Italian flag too, is a matter of re-
cent history. When Napoleon gave Italy
A7I Ir9t taste of liberty, he, in his auto
CaNc fashion, also gave her a flag which
suited him. and when later Victor Eman-
uel was King of free and united Italy, his
people chose for their emblem the red
Nht1e and green flag which Napoleon had
slNeh them, but they added TO il the arms
Oh the house of Savoy.
russia, austria and Prussia all show a
1dce OF the Roman eagles, though modi-
Heu IN each case by heraldic design.
Denhdrk has the oldest flag of Europe,
'-e Hist flag of the design having, so the
Cu'"hlcIes relate, fallen from heaven in
answer TO a prayer of King Waldemar
""eh' M 1918, he was fighting against the
l-saHS oil The Baltic. Whether or no the
iaH came 20 the Danes ready made il
'VsS date from the thirteenth century.
1"Nzerland's flag is as old as her re-
p'"'+' and the White cross on a red ground
Ha9 adopted by the cantons when they
Yea 10 night for freedom, because they
a. llai which inspired the Crusades, and
an worthy to use The cross.
ING Spanish fiag would be misleading to
O'1 unfamiliar with history The imperial
a.oard originally contained the arms Of
e'7lle and Leon. but later those of Sici-
~. austria Burgundy, Flanders, Antwerp
.' PORTUGAL were added. The design Of
standard was not changed when SOW
''-'.y over those counties ceased, ana
~ ,Ae imperial flag of Spain to-day is a
"-N.Ns record Of the steps by which the
'oATE has sunk from greatness 10 in
...acance in the list of nations
''@ae, when freed from Turkish control.
.'-,'eA Tor her flag the blue and white
rS OF Bavaria. in compliment to the
'.t'n prince who was her first king.
'e crescent, which is now the disun-
NAs feature of the Turkish flag, was
r'-auy a popular device with Christian
'.'o-S but when Mahomet II conquered
11i'iu num- he assumed the crescent as a
w." Oh victory because it was the ON
s Vl Dana, patroness of Byzantum,
4. me device was Immediately dropped
'il Christian banners.
,.' 9 dragon Of China antedates chroni-