Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-01-05
THE FLAG IN HISTORY
RIGIN OF NATIONAL EMEsl EMS OF
THE OLD WORLD.

sesS1m OF arc ana the NhIVe bahheF oI
France-The TricoIOr of Holland.
st. Augustine. the missionary. In
trOduced Flags Into England.
The first western sovereign 10 adopt
8 flag was Cows. king o. the Franks.
After his conversion to Chr.stian;ty III
the fifth century lie took the "chape de
St Martin" as his standard. This.
according 10 some writer's. was actu-
ally part of the cloak which the sanity
bishop OF Tours cut in two in order TO
share it with beggSr at Amiens. More
credible authorities, however, assert
tins abbey.
After Clovis. the Merovingian kings
seem TO have returned TO the ancient
emblems. They were content to fight
under eagles, flowers. crosses or the
images of saints until the time Of Char
lemagne, who, if an old mosaic in the
Church OF st. John Lateran at Rome
is to be believed. reintrOduced the blue
flag embellished with six red roses.
The color of the French flag was
changed in 1924, when Louis the Fat
carried the red orifamb of St Denis
IL his struggles against the German
emperor Henry V. This continued TO
be the official French flag down TO the
battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the
meantime the blue flag had again made
its appearance, now decorated with the
fCur-de-Iis instead of the roses of
CharIemagne. IN this form it was car
ried at Acre and Crecy and Poitiers.
until i'm the fifteenth century it be-
came the banner of France.
The first white flag in French histo-
~ was the banner of the Virgin Mary
borne by Joan OF Arc in her heroic
campaigns for the defense of the dau-
phin. A pure white flag was occasion
ally used by Francis |. in his struggles
sgainst the Emperor Charles V. but
il did not become the permanent royal
banner until Henry w.. the first Bour-
bon. assembled the throne in 1889.
The tPicOlor of the French revolution
was n compromise. The cockadeS Of
the revOIutioniSts were composed of
two coIOrs. the red of the Paris com
mune and the blue of the ancient mon
archy. IN the troubled times just pre-
eeding the deposition and execution of
Louis XVI. Lafayette. to signify the
desire of the people for a recOncilia
ton with their king. added the Bour-
bon white to the cOckade. The tricolor
as a national emblem was adopted by
the convention in 1874.
Long before this, however. the tri-
color had been the national flag of
Holland. The Dutch were in fact the
first to use it. When the United Prov
inces gained their independence from
Spain In the sixteenth century. accord
ing to 4 favOrite old story which can
not be authenticated. they invited Hen
~ of Navarro 10 choose their. cOlOrs.
and he suggested orange. blue and
white. Whether he selected this com
bination or not such were the colOrS
OF Holland until some time in the sew
enteenth century. when the orange was
replaced by red. When William of
Orange became king of England in
1898 he crossed the channel under the
red, white and blue.
The early inhabitants of England.
like those of other countries. used en-
blematic devices of one kind or an
other, that of the SaxOns being white
horse. The introduction of flags into
England is ascribed 10 the missionary
It. Augustine and his followers. who
after the conversion of King Ethelbert.
according TO the Venerable Bede. en-
cred Canterbury in procession. chant
ng and bearing small banners.
Since the fourteenth century the cross
# ST George has been the emblem of
he British nation. Before that time it
was worn on the armor by the cru
saders. among whom it came 10 be
Known as the Jack" During the
bloody civil wars of the fifteenth cen
.ury it was practically superseded by
he roses. white and red, and in 1905
" proclamation of James l. 1t WAS
snally replaced by red flag with the
Jack in the upper inside corner. The
ed standard Of Great Britain did not
attain its present form, however. until
after the union with Ireland i'm 1901.
BY parliamentary enactment in 1901
The present union jack was brought
INTO being by the addition Of the cross
of St Patrick.
Waving flags are said to have been
first brought to Spain by the Saracens.
The present Spanish colors. red and
yellow. came from the old shields OF
CASTLE and AragOn.
The Austrian black and yellow were
the col0rs of the Holy Roman Empire
They were adopted. so the story goes
10y Frederick BarbarOssa. whose fancy
was captured ut a ceremony in ALainZ
by the black and gold flooring of the
hall.
The crescent was originally the spe
ciqI mark Of ConstantiuOple. where for
centuries il was used as 4 Christian
symbol. There it was that the Turks
first found il when they captured the
city IN 1853 Even today it may be
found side ly side with the cross on
tho aI,r7r-Ta ~ IN Moscow and other