The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-10-07
OUR EARLY FLAGS
Colonial EmbIems That Led Up
to the Stars and Stripes.
THE STORY OF OLD GLORY.
Twice Has the Design Been Changed
Since the Official Adoption OF Our
First Flag In t777-The Stars the
Distinctive Feature OF Our Banner.

The American flag * growth
rather than creation Its history can
he traced back to the twelfth century,
or nearly GOO years prior to the first
flag day" June II. 11I1.
During the first crusade in l9J
Pope Urban II. assigned to all Of the
Christian nations rs standards crosses
varying in color and design, emblem
attic of the warfare in which they were
engaged. To the Scotch troops was
assigned the white satire. known as
the white cross of st. Andrew. on II
blue field. The British used Il yellow
crvss. but Il century and Il quarter
later they adopted Il red cross on a
white field. known as the red cross OF
st. George.
When James VI. Of Scotland ascend.
ed the throne of England as James ].
he combined the two flags and issued
a proclamation requiring all ships to
carry the new flag ut their mainmasts.
At the same time the vessels of south
Britain were to carry Mt their fore
masiS the red cross Of st. George and
the ships Of north Britain to carry
the white cross Of ST. Andrew.
The new flag WAS known as king
colOrs." the union colors." of the
great union" and later as the union
jack" and was the one under which
the British made all their permanent
settlements in America.
The people in the New England colo
MES were bitterly opposed to the cross
! in the flag. Ia 1863 some of the troops
IN Massachusetts declined to march
under this flag, and the military com
missioners were forced to design other
rags for their troops with the cross
left out. The design they adopted has
not been preserved. In 1862 mint
was established in Boston. Money
coined in this mint had fhe pine tree
stamped on one side Of it. The pine
tree design was also used on New
England flags. certainly by 1904 and
possibly as early rs 1857.
| At the outbreak Of the Revolution
the American colonies had no flag com
mon to all Of them. In many cases the
merchant marine dag of England was
used with the pine tree substituted for
the union jack. Massachusetts adopt
ed the green pine tree on Il white
| field with the motto. AN Appeal tn
Heaven" Some of the southern states
had the rattlesnakc flag with the mot
to Don't Tread on Me" on a white or
yellow field. This dag had been used
by South Carolina rs early as 1864.
In September, l715. there was dis
played in the south what is by many
believed to he the first distinctively
American flag. 1t was blue with n
white crescent and matched the dress
~ the troops. who wore caps inscrib-
ed Liberty or Death"
! The cOloniStS desired to adopt a com
mon flag, but they had not yet declared
Independence and were not ut first
seeking Independence. They took the
British iiag as they knew it and made
a new colonial flag by dividing the red
field with white stripes into thirteen al
ternate red and white stripes. This is
known as the Cambridge tiag. because
il WIS first unfurled over Washington's
headquarters ut Cambridge, Mass. Oh
Jan. l. 1916 1t complied with the law
OF 1907 10y having the union Jack on
| it, il also represented the thirteen col
onies by the thirteen stripes.
| As the colonisiS gradually became
converted 10 the idea that independ
ence from the mother country was nee
cssary they began 10 modify the flag.
| first by leaving off the union Jack and
using only the thirteen horizontal
stripes. The modified flags were not al
WAYS red and white. but regularly con
sisted Of combinations Of two colors
selected from red, white blue and vel
low. The final modification was the re-
placement of the union jack by the
white stars on "A blue field
The stars are the only distinctive fea-
ture OF the American flag. The charm.
Ing story which credits Betsy Ross
with making the first flag Of stars and
stripes is still accepted 10y historians.
When Washington suggested the six
pointed star she demonstrated the ease
with which n tive pointed star could be-
made by folding piece of paper and
producing one with single clip of the
scissors.
The official adoption OF our first
flag was In lI1T. On June II of that
year the Continental congress passed
an act providing that the riag of the
thirteen United States he thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white, chat
the Union he thirteen stars, white
on Il blue field. representing n new
constellation. The thirteen stars We're
arranged in a circle Ia symbolic the
perpctuity OF the union If the states.
Vermont Was admitted Ia the Union
in 1871. ana Kentucky in 1892. IL
was felt that these two new states
ought TO be recognized on the flag. so
ia 1874 congress passed AN act making
the dag fifteen stars and fifteen stripes.
This remained the dag OF the United
States throughout the war OF 1872. I'M
ill there were twenty states in the
Union. In 1916 an effort was again
made TO modify the dag SO that all the
new states would be represented on IT,