The Columbus journal., 1904-08-17
STORY OF THE FLAG
RQeoRD o. the UNION STAND.
AN0 F0oaa tTo BIRTH.


the nag became . national standard
was not o0cially pronulgated BY the
secretary Of congress until Sept. 3,
It'll, e seems well authenticated that
the regulation stars and stripes VA
carried 1t the battle Of Brandywine
fought Sept. II. lit. This shows that
the contract entered into BY Betsy
Ross must have been carried out with
great expedition, and that the nags
had been distributed among the line
regiments Of the revolutionary army
early In September: The nag nrst dis
played In battle at BrandywiEe Creei
had thirteen stripes. alternate red and
white, and q q union thirteen white
stars were displayed On q blue field.
The flag which ~as carried by the
men In blue and buff during the bat
ties OF the revolution remained un
changed until the frat day Of Nay
1795. when. by q previous act Of con
gress, two additional stripes Wert
added to the body Of the standard and
two stars to the union. These add
tions were made to represent thu
states Of Vermont and Kentucky
which had just been admitted to thu
federal union. A. NO further change
was made in the national dag Until
1878, It follows that the regimenta
colors carried during the var of ISL;
were q this design Thus the Amer
lean 1ags surrendered BY Genera
Hull Ct Detroit, and those captured
b. the British at Bladensburg an(
Warrington must ali have displayed
fifteen alternate red and white stripes
as we'll as the fifteen stars In thu
union.
In 1878. by an act of congress-. thu
stripes OF the national flag were agar
reduced to thirteen. and 1t was de
clared that the addition Of . star t.
the union shcald thence-forward repre-
sent each n.'v state. A. newspaper
OF the time. still kept in the govern
ment archives. said: BY this regu
lati0n the thirteen stripes will repre-
sent the number Of states whose val0l
and resources originally effected
American independence. and addition
al stars will mark the increase oi
the states since the present cOnstitu
ton" From this time ON the increase
Of stars in the constellation which
formed the union was steady. and dur
ing the war with Mexico. In 1886
twenty-nine white stars were dis
played In the blue field.
The nags borne Dy the regiments Of
the northern army during the four
years Of the great civil war had thir.
ty-1ve stars In the union. This was
the full number of states then form
ing the national federation. as the
United States government had re-
fused to recognize the constitutional
right Of . state to secede from the
union. The retention of the stars
the southern states was
regarded Is q serious breach of mil
itary etiquette by the more punctiliOus
Of the confederate leaders. and the
capture Of n OF the federal stand
ards was always well rewarded by the
at hichmOnd.
The regiInental flags carried by the
regular and volunteer regiments dur
ing the Spanish war of 1898 displayed
stars In the blue field Of the
ten new states having been
added to the federation since the
great civil struggle which 80 nearly
severed he republic. This was also
he fist foreign war In which the
,tats troops of the reunited country
appeared in the field together, and 1t
vas the first occasion on which for
ner confederate officers Of high rank
'esumed the uniform Of the United
states service. The great garrison
lag which was hoisted over Santiago
Ifter the surrender of the city by the
c0mmandant measured TWEEN.
y feet In width by t~hirty-six feet In
the forty-ive white stars |
which formed the union showing dis i
inctly against the bright blue IT the