Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-29
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STORY OF THE FLAG.
A Few Peculiar Facts Regarding Our
Standard.

L. Stanodros
your flag and my flag"
| And June IA was it's 132d birthday
Anniversary.
This date has been accurately fixed
by the action of the Continental Con-
gress, as recorded in the Journal of
Congress. That body was then sitting
lin Philadelphia, having moved over
March 4, from a little over two months
sitting in Baltimore. Congress re-
mained in session in Philadelphia un-
til September IS, 1777, when 1t went
TO Lancaster for exactly one year. In
the session from March to September
the origin and birth Of the flag Is COM
passed, and there is not very much
history of it either. June IA, 1777, ac-
cording to the records, the American
congress adopted a resolution which
read as follows:
Resolved, That the flag of the thir-
teen United States be thirteen stripes,
alternate red and white; that the Un-
ion be thirteen stars, white in a blue
field, representing a new constella-
tion."
There is not one scintilla of evidence
to show who introduced this resolu-
ton or whether one word Of discussion
was evoked. The resolution was
adopted" and so 1t must have had
father, but his name is lost to history.
While the resolution comes down In
history as adopted" by congress on
that day, 1t was not officially promul-
gated by the secretary until Septem-
ber 3, 1777.
From that day to this the flag has
not been changed so that the eye could
discern 1t at distance. 1t had two
stripes added to 1t in 1894 by resolu-
ton of congress, when Vermont and
Kentucky had been admitted to the
Union and asked representation on the
flag. Two additional stars were also
placed in the field Of blue. The bill
was the first of the Third congress to
be signed by President Washington,
January 1S, 1894.
For twenty-three years this fifteen
striped and fifteen starred flag was our
national standard, and under 1t three
wars were fought-that with France,
in 179S-1SO0; with Tripoli, in Africa
1s01-1SO5, and with Great Britain, 1872
| to 1915.
It was the flag Of fifteen stripes and
stars which floated over Fort McHen-
ry and inspired Francis Scott Key to
write 1.-THE Star Spangled Banner.
In less than year after the adoption
of the fifteen stripes and stars Ten
nessee was asking admission to rep
resentation on the flag and Ohio knock
ed for the same honor in 1903, Louis
lana in 1912 and Indiana in 1916. IL
linois was also beginning to look FOR
admission into the sisterhood, and that
meant twenty stripes, an unwieldy
thing, looking the same as ever, only
If proportionately long it would be too
heavy to fly from any but the strong
est flagstaff.
Capt. Samuel Chester Reid, sailing
master In the United States navy and
warden Of the port of New York, In
1918 suggested to Representative Peter
Wendover of New York, who was much
interested in the flag, that 1t would be
we'll to return to the original size OF
the flag-thirteen stripes, alternate red
and white, with field Of blue bearing
star for each state as admitted.
Representative Wendover introduced
the bill in congress. it passed both
houses and was signed by President
James Madison April 4, 1918. This
bill provided that the star for a new
state should be added on the Fourth
of July succeeding the admission OF
the state into the Union.
That is the last action that has ever
been taken by congress on the flag.
The first suggestion, so far as au-
thentic history goes, that the birthday
anniversary Of the flag should be OBJ
served was made early in June, 1861,
by George Morris of Hartford, Conn.
He made the suggestion to Charles
Dudley Warner, editor Of the Hartford
Courant, which had been left in his
care by it's owner, Gen. Hawley, who
dropped the editorial pen and went to
the front. Hartford observed the day
by hanging out flags and having a
patriotic programme, patriotic music
and praying for the soldiers in the
field and for the continuance of the
| Union.
| f,trf
Loomis, then a member Of congress
from Connecticut, to introduce a bill
to make June IA legal holiday. The
bill was taken up for action June 13,
| 1861, and congress proceeded to make
merry with it. After making all kinds
of fun of the resolution 1t was laid on
the table by a vote of 67 to 33. And
that was the fate of the first flag bill
| in congress. Many have been intro
duced since, but none has passed both
houses.
| Judge Loomis and Mr.. Morris both
lived to see Flag Day honored by ev-
cry northern state, with millions upon
millions of children taking part in pro-
grammes, each number of which has
direct bearing upon the birthday Of
the flag.
| AS the United States grew and the
government expanded many new de-
partments were added, and with them
many special flags have come into eX-
istence. Least often seen and yet most
interesting of the twenty-five or thir-
ty of these special flags is that Of the
president of the United States. He
has a wealth of them, in fact no less
than three, but they are seldom seen
in public. There are two of each of
these flags, one of bunting and one of
silk. They are exactly alike with this
exception, but the one of silk is called
the presidents colors.
The president of the United States
had no personal flag until 1882. If he
went aboard a ship his presence was
denoted by the national flag hoisted at
the main truck and his presence in a
Il pa rrjSon of most was denoted nv the