The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-08-14
OLD GLORY
AND ITS STARS

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 Is star, the arrangement
was changed to eight stars in the first,
third, fourth, and sixth rows, leaving
seven for the second and ffth 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 rattlesnake, cut into thirteen
pieces, with the motto "Join or Die, -
was added and little later this was
changed TO whole snake. coiled to
strike, above the words "Don't Tread
On Me. -
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 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 tho
camp at Cambridge, January second,
1776, and accepted as the authorita.
tive ensign of the Revolution but with
the signing of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence the crosses of the English
Jack were repudiated and Congress ap.
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 blue field,
representing the new constellation.
And so was born the "Stars and
Stripes (which have never been dis
honored.
In this first flag the stars were ar.
ranged in 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 il
became evident that to add both stripe
and star for each one would make the
flag clumsy to handle, and destroy It's
Ibeauty.
Then, Captain Samuel Chester Reid
suggested that the design revert to the
original thirteen stripes, they to stand
for the original States, while star be
added for each State admitted to the
lUnion--the change in the flag to be
made on the Fourth of July following
each admission, and Captain Reid 4
wife made the first flag after the new
pattern, with the twenty stars (ther
required) arranged to form one large
star.
On April 4th, 1918, Congress Gre
solved to accept the plan of Captain
Reid and from then, no change has
been made except in the arrangement
of the stars as new ones have beer
added.
The Irrational fag'' is not the only
one affected by the admission of ;
new State for both the garrison fias
of the army and the recruiting flag
which are the same in design, hut diff
fering in the fact of their size, mus
be changed when it is.
The U. s. Union Jack, and the per
sonal flag of the President each mus
show ga star for every State'' so tina
we had five flags to be changed.
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