The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1915-01-15
STORIES OF FLAGS
Origins Of Some Of the EmbIems
Of European Nations.
THE TRlcOLoR or BELGIUM.

Of Austria and the Flags of Germany,
France, England and Russia.
Prior to the Franco Prussian war Of
1870 the German empire was little
more than group of scattered states.
When they combined into single en-
pire. however, traces Of all their flags
were combined in the resultant stand
ard
TO be sure. the colors of Prussia
black and white and the Prussian
eagle enter very largely into it, but it
must be remembered that this country
became at that time the head and
ruler of all the others. Besides the
smaller states, there were also the
flags Of East and West Prussia to be
included. That of West Prussia was
black, white. black, three stripes of
equal diameter, running the length Of
the flag. That of East Prussia con-
sisted of two such stripes, the upper
black aud the lower white. The
jack of the imperial navy consists
of three horizontal stripes, the upper
black, the middle white and the lower
red. The much priced iron cross dat
ing back to the end Of the twelfth CEN
tury) is in the center. This red stripe
appears in the final war ensign OF the
empire, in which the tricolor (black,
white, red) appears in the upper quar-
ter. with the iron cross upon it, while
the remaining three-quarters are white,
with the royal arms in the center. A
black cross divides the whole flag into
quarters.
The flag of Austria is very com
pick affair. To begin with, the various
Austrian provinces have their own
flags. Bohemia is red-white, Tyrol ia
white-red, Dalmatia is blue yellow, Ga
iicia is blue-red. Croatia is red-white
blue and Istria is yellow-white blue
Then again, Austria Hungary being a
dual monarchy, both Austria and Hun
gary must be separately represented
and fully-on the flag. Fortunately
this combination was rendered mora
easy by the fact that portions Of the
flags of both countries were already
the same. Thus, the Austrian flag was
red-white- red. the Hungarian was red
white-green. Compromise was effect
ed by dividing the lowest horizontal
stripe in two. and leaving half red
while the remainder was green. The
arms of both countries also appear on
the flag. This was decided upon March
6, 1869.
The imperial standard Of the car OF
all the Russias is Of brilliant yellow,
in the center of which is large dou-
bic headed black eagle. This flag dates
from the year 1872, when Ivan the
Great married Sophia, niece Of Con
stantine Palaeologus, and thence as.
sumed the arms of the Greek empire.
On the breast of the eagle is an es-
cutcheon bearing on its red field in sil.
yer the figure Of st. George Staying
the dragon. the whole being surround
ed by the collar of the Order Of st
Andrew. On the displayed wings OF
the eagle are other shields bearing
the arms of Kiev, Novgorod, Vladi
mir, Kasan, etc. The Russian union
jack is very similar to that of Eng
land, save that the principal crossbara
are blue instead of red This is the
well known Russian war flag. The
cross is that Of st. Andrew, the patron
I saint Of Russia.
The well known tricolor of France
us made up of three stripes blue.
white and red running not the length,
but the width of the flag. It dates
from the era of the French revolution
and came into existence IN 1885, 1t
has been the national flag since, with
but slight variations. In 1894 the tri.
color was also made the jack Of the
French navy.
The union jack of Great Britain is
composed Of the three crosses of st
George, St Patrick and st. Andrew.
That of the first was broad red cross,
dividing the white flag into four white
squares: the white cross of st. An.
drew, on blue background, ran from
corner to corner diagonally. while the
red cross of st. Patrick ran in the same
direction. If the union jack be exam.
ined 1t will be found to be composed
OF these three crosses, as stated. The
flag was first unfurled in 1901, on she
union in that year OF Great Britain
ENGLAND, Scotland and Wales) and
Ireland.
The flag Of Belgium is composed OF
a tricolor-black. yellow and red-run-
ming up and downfall is, the width
and not the length Of the dag. The
royal standard has the arms placed in
the center of the yellow strip. This
was adopted as the national flag in
1881, being originally the colors Of the
duchy of Brabant
From l477 until 1906 Belgium be.
longed to Austria, but on the latter
date it fell into the hands of Spain.
In 1895 and for some years following
1t was held by France. and In 1914
was handed over to the Prince OF
Orange, but In 1880 the Belgians rose
against the Hollanders and established
heir independence The flag which i