The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-08-12
OLD GLORY
AND ITS STARS
History of The Grand Old
Rag Since the Days of
Its Design.

During the ten years since Utah was
admitted to the Union the stars in
the official flag of the United States
until the present have numbered forty
five and were arranged in six rows.
with eight stars in the first, third and
fifth rows, and seven in the second,
fourth and sixth.
With the addition, on July 4th, 1908,
of Oklahoma s star, the arrangement
was changed to eight stars in the first,
third, fourth, and sixth rows, leaving
seven for the second and fifth rows,
each.
This change calls to mind others that
have been made since the colonists
brought the Great Union flag of Great
Britain to our shores, and the story Of
the various changes is full of interest.
AS the spirit of independence in,
creased a rattlesnake, cut into thirteen
pieces, with the motto fsJoin or Die, =
was added and little later this was
changed to a whole snake. eoiled to
strike, above the words ''Don't Tread
On Ne. -
Several slight changes followed
these but in each design some feature
of the flag of Great Britain was re-
tanned, even to the first national flag,
designed by Benjamin Franklin. Ben
.iamin Harrison, and Thomas Lynch,
and adopted by the Continental Con-
gress. This flag had thirteen red and
white stripes, and a blue field as in our
present flag. but where we have the
stars in the Union that first flag had
the crosses of st. George and St. An
drew.
Such was the flag raised over the
camp at Cambridge, January second.
1875, and accepted as the authorita-
tive ensign of the Revolution but, with
the signing of the Declaration of indie
pende1ce the crosses of the English
Jack, were repudiated and Congress APP
pointed General Washington, Colonel
Ross, and Robert Morris to "design a
suitable flag for the nation.
When their design was ready they
took it to Betsy Ross at Philadelphia
who made a flag from the pattern.
This was taken to the State House for
inspection by the Continental Congress
with the result that. on June IA, 1777,
they accepted the design and resolved:
That the flag of the United States
shall be thirteen stripes, alternate
white and red, and that the Union be
thirteen white stars on a blue field,
the new constellation. y
And so was born the fsStars and
Stripes which have never been dis
honored
In this first flag the stars were ar
ranged in a circle. and no change was
made until January 13, 1894. when two
stars and two stripes were added in
honor of Vermont and Kentucky, but
as other States came into the Union it
became evident that to add both stripe
and star for each one would make the
flag clumsy to handle, and destroy IT'S
beauty.
Then. Captain Samuel Chester Reid
that the design revert to the
original thirteen stripes, they to stand
for the original States. while a star be
added for each State admitted to the
change in the flag to be |
made on the Fourth Of July following
zach admission. and Captain Reid s |
wife made the first flag after the new |
pattern, with the twenty stars (then |
arranged to form one large |
itar.
On April 4th, 1918, Congress sire |
solved to accept the plan of Captain
Reid and from then, no change has |
oeen made except in the arrangement |
If the stars as new ones have been |
added
The Irrational flag is not the only
me affected by the admission of a |
lew State for both the garrison flag
IF the army and the recruiting flag, |
which are the same in design. but diff
fering in the fact of their size, must /
be changed when it is.
The Z. S. Union Jack, and the per-
'onal flag of the President each must
how "a star for every State so that /
We had five flags to be changed