Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-02

The American flag is growth,
rather than a creation. It's history
can be traced back to the twelfth
century, or nearly 600 years prior to
the first Flag Day, June IA, 1717.
During the first crusade in 1195
Pope Urban II. assigned to all of the
Christian nations as standards crosses
varying in color and design, en-
blematic 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
a blue field. The British used a yellow
cross, but a century and quarter
later they adopted a red cross on a
white field, known as the red cross
of St George.
When James VI, of Scotland, as
cended the throne of England as
James l., he combined the two flags
and issued a proclamation requiring
all ships to carry the new flag at
their main masts. At the same time
the vessels of South Britain were to
carry at their foremasts 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 Kings
Colors," the Union Colors," or the
Great Union" and the latter as the
Union Jack" and was the one under
which the British made all their per-
manent settlements in America. 1t
was the flag of Great Britain only
by proclamation, however; not until
1907 did Parliament pass an act def
nitely uniting the two countries and
their flags. In the same year the
government issued regulations requir-
ing the navy to use what was known
as the white ensign the Naval Re-
serve, the blue ensign; and the Mer-
chant Marine, the red ensign. Owing
to the fact that the British merchant
vessels were everywhere, the colonists
in America came back to look upon
this red ensign as the flag of Great
Britain,
The people in the New England
colonies were bitterly opposed to the
cross in the flag. In 1885 some or
the troops in Massachusetts declined
to march under this flag and the mill
tary commissioners were forced to
design other flags for their troops
with the cross left out. The design
they adopted has not been preserved.
In 1862 a mint was established in
Boston. Money coined in this mint
4 had the pine tree stamped on one
side of it. The pine tree design was
also used on New England flags GER
tainly by 1904 and possibly as early
as 1886.
| At the outbreak of the Revolution
the American colonies had no flag
| common to all of them. In many
cases the merchant marine nag oil
| he nina frpa
substituted for the Union Jack
Massachusetts adopted the green pine
tree on a white field with the motto:
"An Appeal to Heaven" Some OF
the Southern States had the rattle
snake flag with the motto: Dom
Tread on Me" on a white or yellow
field. This flag had been used by
South Carolina as early as 1854 ben
| ianin Franklin defended the rattle
snake device on the ground that thu
rattlesnake is found only in America
and that serpent emblems were con
sidered by ancients to be symbols Of
| wisdom.
In September, 1775, there was dis
| played in the South what is by many
| believed to be the first distinctlVeiS
American fog. 1t was blue with
white crescent and matched the dress
| OF the troops, who wore caps IN
| scribed, Liberty or death"
The colonists desired to adopt
common flag. but they had not ye
declared independence and were no
at first seeking English independence
They took the English flag as they
| knew it and made new colonial flai
| by dividing the red field with white
| stripes into thirteen alternate red ant
white stripes. This is known as thu
/ n. II fire.
| unfurled over Washingtons head
quarters at Cambridge, Mass, OF
January l. 1776. 1t complied with tn,
law of 1907 by having the Union Jacl
on 1t: it also represented the thirteei
colonies by the thirteen stripes
AS the colonists gradually became
converted to the idea that independ
ence from the mother country wal
necessary, they hegap 10 mpddfx1th