The National tribune., 1910-08-18

Mrs. Judge Hopkins. of Alabama. He
states that he issued a call to the wo-
men of the South to send to him their
red and blue silk dresses. out of which
flags should be made. and the ladies
mentioned made the first flags from
their own silk dresses. When the red
and blue silk dresses of the women of
the South gave out they made the flags
lof merino and then of cotton
The so-called battle flag did not en-
tirely suit the rebels, because many OBJ
Ijected. as objection had been made in
Revolutionary times, to the cross on
the flag, even tho it be a Southern
cross. declaring that ii was sacrilegious.
The Richmond Dispatch of Dec. I,
1861, contained an extended article
urging a change in the National en-
blem. namely. the battle fig. and gave
its reasons as follows:
| The adoption of our present flag
was a natural. but most pernicious
blunder As the old flag itself was not
the author of our wrongs. we tore off a
piece of the dear old rag and set II up
as a standard. We took it for granted
a flag was a divisible thing. and pro-
ceeded to cut off our proportion. So
we took, at a rough calculation. our
share of the stars and our fraction of
the stripes, and put them together and
called them the Confederate flag Even
as Aaron of old put the gold into the
| fire and then came out this calf, 50 cer-
tain stars and stripes went into COM
mittee. and then came out this flag.
All this was honest and fair to n fault.
| We were clearly entitled to from seven
| to II stars and three or four of the
stripes
There is but one feature essential to
a flag, and that is distinctness. Beauty,
appropriateness, good taste, are all de-
sirable: but the only thing indispensa-
hTe N iSti nIain mis-
! taxable distinction from other flags.
Unfortunately this Indispensable thing
| is just the thing which the Confederate
ilag lacks; and failing in this it is
lamentahle and total failure, absolute
and irredeemable.
We knew the flag we had to fight;
yet instead of getting as far from it we
were guilty of the huge mistake of get
| ting as near to it as possible. We sought
| similarity, adopting principle diamet-
| rically wrong. We made a flag as near
| ly like theirs as we could, only under
| favorable circumstances (such as con-
stantly occur in practicc) the two flags
are indistinguishable BILE"
The second National flag adopted by
! this Southern Congress had the battle
lag in the upper left-hand corner and
he fly was of white. This was decid-
edly unsatisfactory, as unless the flag
was floating out it looked like flag of
truce, and was often mistaken for such
The Congress then adopted a third Ma
tional flag. March 4, 1865. and this was
to place across the end of the flag of
truce flag broad stripe of red, and
that is really the flag which ex-Confed-
crates should worship. as it was prac-
tically the last act of the Confederate
Congress, and waved over the Capitol
for a few days until the Confederate
Capitol was evacuated.
The Richmond Examiner of Feb. II,
1862. published a communication Civ
ing reasons why the proper National
symbol of the Southern Confederacy
should be single large star. 1t said:
Before we get our National emblem
we must get rid of stars and stripes in
ments of red. white and blue. Nothing
can be gotten from them but plagiar-
ism. poor motives. feeble fancies."
Yet it wanted to adopt q great star
as the central design.
II is stated that Mr.. Marschall, who
a few years ago was living in Louis
Vile. KY, still painting pictures, was
also the originator of the gray uni
forms. with bars and stars on the col
lars, worn by the Confederate army.
He says that this was suggested by the
gray uniforms with green facings of
the sharpsh ootcr regiment Of Austrians
which he saw in Verona. Italy, in 1853. |
Mr.. Marschall enlisted as Confeder-
ate soldier. He served for time, help