The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1915-07-02
REAL HISTORY OF
I. AMERICAN FLAG
Emblem, 1t Is Declared by Stu
dents, May Be Traced Back
as Far as the Twelfth
Century.

vWslIE American flag Is growth.
rather than a creation. It's his.
tory can be traced back to the
18th century. or nearly COO years prior
10 ihe first Flag Day. June ia, l777-
During THE first crusade in 1875.
Pope Urban II assigned 10 all OF the
Christian nations as standards crosses
varying IN color and design, emblem.
attic OF the warfare I'm which they
were engaged 10 the Scotch troops
was assigned the white satire. known
AS the white cross u st Andrew, on
blue field The British used yellow
cross. but century and quarter
later they adopted red cross ON a
white field. known as the red cross OF
81. George.
When James vi or Scotland ascend
ed the throne Of England as James !.
he combined the two flags. aud issued
q proclamation requiring all ships TO
carry the new flag al their main
masts At the same time the vessels
OF south Britain were 70 carry at
their foremasts the red cross OF 81.
George aud the ships OF north Britain
20 carry the white cross OF 81 An.
drew.
The new flag was known as Kings
col0rs,- the linton Colors," or the
Great Union" and later as the Union
Jack. and was the one under which
the British made all their permanent
settlements In America. II Was tho
FLAG Of Great Britain only by proclama-
tlnn. however, not until 1907 did par
lament pass an act definitely uniting
the two countries and their flags. In
che same year the government issued
regulations requiring the navy TO use
Z what was known as the white ensign;
the naval reserve. the blue ensign;
and the merchant marine. the red en-
sign Owing to the fact that the Brit
ish merchant vessels were everywhere.
the colonists ia America came to look
upon this red ensign as the flag or
Great Britain.
The people In the New England col.
onies we're bitterly opposed to the
cross In the tiag. In 1886 some OF the
troops Ia Massachusetts, declined to
march under this dag and the military
commissioners were forced to design
other Tags for their troops with the
cross left out The design they adopt
ed has not been preserved. In 1862
mint was established Ia Boston.
Money coined In this mint had the
pine tree stamped on one side OF Il.
The pine tree design was also used
on New England flags. certainly by
1904 and possibly as early as 1886.
Al the outbreak Of the Revolution
the American colonies had no flag
common to all OF them. In many cases
abe merchant marine flag Of England
sas used with the pine tree substi-
tafed for the Union Jack. Massa.
ehusetts adopted the green pine tree
on white field. with the motto: IAN
Appeal to Heaven Some OF the south
ern states had the rattlesnake Tag
with the motto Don't Tread on Me"
on white or yellow field This flag
had been used by South Carolina as
early aB 1864. Benjamin Franklin de-
Tended the rattlesnake device on the
ground that the rattlesnake Is found
only IN America and that serpent EN-.
blems were considered by ancients
10 be symbols OF wisdom.
In September, 1775, there Was dis
played in the South what was by
many believed TO be the first distinct
lively American flag. II was blue with
white crescent. and matched the
dress Of the troops. who wore caps In
scrIbed; Liberty or Death"
The eoIcnlsts desired to adopt a
common flag; but they had not yet