Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-07-13
FACTS ABOUT AMERICAN FLAG
/ SEMbLEMS And Meaning
Lieut. g. E. Turner u A. Throws Light ON History and the
Origin of National Banner, Now One of the Oldest in the
World,

more particularly of the planets, and
this star symbol was the representa-
ton of some star god This symbol
was early borrowed as heraldic
sign. In medieval time its signifi-
cation was changed and today in her
aldry the star is called mullet,
meaning the rowel of knights spur
The early mullets all had six points
but later five pointed stars were
adopted. The Star of Bethlehem"
or Jewish star was represented as
having six points. This is the star
that was put on our coins but on the
flag is the more modern five pointed
star. 1t is possible that the five
pointed star was borrowed from the
Coat-of-Arms of George Washington.
TasseI Old Symbol.
The tassel is another symbol that
is very ancient origin. The LORD
speakinog to Moses, Exodus XVIII,
33, in describing the sacred vest
ments of the high priest said, And
beneath at the feet of the same tunic
around about, thou shalt make as 1t
were. pOmegranates As time
went on the pomegranate, which
stood for plenty, was changed in form
and finally became a tassel Upon
the waist cord of the hassock of the
monk appears this same tassel. In
medieval times the. union of State
and Church was very strong and the
tassel and cord appeared as part of
the National Colors. 1t is significant
OF the many benefits conferred upon
the State by the Church
The fringe has somewhat similar
origin as it was first used in hangings
for affairs and on sacradotal garments
and sacred emblems. These symbols
were used by Brahmans, Mohamme-
dams, Buddhists, Jews, and Christians
alike and upon the Colors that you
salute1 at parade appear this self
same tassel, cord and fringe.
First Roman Flags.
The first ensigns of early Rome
were poles upon which were placed
sacred emblems of gold These were
called standards. At the very begin
ming of the ancient city there were
two standards, the she-wolf adopted
by Romulus and the eagle adopted by
the Senate of Romulus Many stand
ards were used by the Romans, but in
81 B. G. Marius adopted the eagle
with the thunderbolt in it's claws
signifying Might and Power, as the
standard of all the legends of Rome,
and it appeared in battle with every
legend during the remaining history
of the great empire. Many nations
have borrowed the Roman eagle Rus
sis has double-headed eagle, Poland
a white one and Austria the Emper-
or's eagle. The early colonists adopt
ed this eagle as national symbol,
and it had for them an additional sig
nificance as eagles were plentiful in
their new country and the feathers
of this bird had been used by the In
dians both as an ornament in time
of peace and as a symbol in time of
war =s...~
Flag is Old. r.. ..~....
Although our Republic is young,
our flag is old in comparison with the
present epsigns of the. great nations
of the earth. Our different colonies
adopted flags and of the early revo-
lutionary ones fifteen have been pre-
served. The Pine Tree and the Rattle
snake flags are well known The first
real attempt to form common flag
was in 1775. They kept the crosses
of Britain but added thirteen red and
white stripes. Washington's vessels
flew the Pine Tree flag. In &c com
mon flag of thirteen stripes alone was
used. This was an English naval
signal flag meaning Form for
Battle" In august 1777 Congress
adopted the Stars and Stripes" For
some years various changes were
made. In 1918 there were twenty
stripes and twenty stars and about
this time the present rules for the
arrangement of stars and stripes were
adopted. General Washington inter-
ested himself in the flag. 1t is sup
posed that it was his original sketch
that Betsy" Ross copied, in June, rs,
in making the first STARS and
Stripes. ~:# r.. ....-. MI. ."..@
When First Flown. ~. -
Our flag was the first seen in Eng
land when the ship Bedford, Captain
Mooers, of Nantucket, arrival in the
Downs of February, 1888. The En-
press of China carried the Stars and
Stripes into Chinese waters in 1884.
When the China" arrived at Canton
tie people were curious and describ
ed. the new banner as beautiful as
mower" and they called America Kaw.
kee koh or flower-f1ag- country The
flag encircled the globe in 1890, and
probably reached Hawaii in this year.
1t did not reach Japan until the,
Franklin entered a port of that
country in July, 1893, and by this
time the flag had entered ports of
pUcrv q tiOO in ha world
For over hundred years our flag
has been the emblem of liberty, hui,
mainly and fair dealing. From theI
banner of thirteen small colonies of
two million inhabitants it has be-
come the ensign of a hundred million
free souls, flying gloriously over forty.
eight great States and over beautiful
islands in the Pacific and in the At-l