The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-05-05
the international signal code. Every
yacht club has it's pennant, every

yacht clup mas It's pennant, ever,
ship, and for telling about the wealth
er there is confusing number. Their,
is a flag not only for every day O.
the year but for every minute of tn,
DAY, II not for every second of tn,
day.
There are but two great flags which
it is our especial duty to honor O,
all occasions. One of them is tn,
international Red Cross flag. AL
over the world this stands for human
ity, for the relief of suffering wheth
er caused by war or other disaster
will tell you something about it
After the war between Italy and Aus
trla some fifty years ago, some great
and good men in Switzerland thought
they would do what they could te
lessen the horrors of the battlefield
They called a conference in Geneva
and out of respect for the little re.
public, Switzerland, they adopted q
flag which is now seen all over the
world, on land and at sea. The Swiss
| flag has a white cross on a red field
and these colors were reversed fol
the Red Cross, giving the flag a white
field. White is the emblem of peace
Yellow means contagious disease. Red
stands for revolution. The black flag
is used by pirates.
The other great flag, the one that
is to float from this new staff, the
one you should respect, salute, love-
and if need be, fight for, is that star
spangled banner, and our hope is that
it may long wave "o'er the land of
the free and the home of the brave
When these national colors are pass
ing on parade or in review, you should
if walking, halt, and sitting, rise.
Whenever the National song is sung
or played it is the custom to stand.
This beautiful flag as you see it
today has been changed many times,
and there are many more changes
yet to come as the country grows.
1t is gaining in significance. 1t is
not quite SO old as the Fourth of
July. Before the Revolutionary war
each one of the colonies had flag
of its own; but during the war the
great need of one flag around which
all could rally became evident. So
on June IA, 1777, please remember
that important date, congress gave
us in part what we have today. 1t
gave US the thirteen stripes, seven
red and six white, the highest and
the lowest stripes always being red.
1t gave us, not what we now have,
but instead thirteen white stars on
the blue of the sky. That was star
for each of the colonies or states.
This was changed for a few years,
stripes being added, but almost one
hundred years ago congress went
back to the thirteen stripes. Re-
member that the first flag was raised
by Washington at Cambridge. To
be regular and official there should
now be 48 white stars in the blue
field, and they should be arranged in
six rows of eight stars each. The
placing of the stars is by order of
the secretary of war and every time
state is added the stars must be
slightly changed. Now l have said
there is a star for every state, but |
confess that l cannot tell you which
star stands for Florida. And the
reason is most interesting one.
Florida and Iowa were admitted to
the Union on the same day of the
same year, March 8, 1845. Texas
was also admitted that year, but not
until December 20. Now whether
Florida got the start of Iowa by
few minutes, or Iowa was state be-
fore Florida, would depend on the
presidents signature. But the stars
for both states were placed upon the
flag at the same time, because no
matter when state is admitted the
flag gets its star only on the follow
ing Fourth of July. You will notice
that the stars are all of the same
size, no state being given prominence
over another.
One of the lessons that | think
should be learned by every boy and
girl is that of protecting the flag.
See that it is not desecrated or used
for any but the best purposes. Laws
have been enacted that forbid defac-
ing the flag by putting notices and
on it. Keep it clean,
Never hoist it before
sunrise, and not later than sunset.
Never allow it to touch the ground.
All Of US can honor the flag. There
is patriotic order called the Am
srican Flag association whose motto
is zone Flag, One Country, God
Over ALL" Its objects are to teach
reverence for the flag, and to observe
June IA as Flag day because on that
lay in 1777 the flag was given its
birth This is our Flag day. If a
lill now before congress becomes a
aw, as it is likely to do, every build
ng in the United States in which
here is a postoffce will display the
national colors, as they are now
shown from every custom house and
rom the National capitol when con-
yress is in session.
A flag is a symbol; it stands for
IN idea, quality, purpose, an OBJ
ect. Every flag is priced for what
t means, and our American flag is
beyond price because it is the emblem
If our rights, our liberties, our coun-
ry. It has cost us great treasure
md thousands of lives, but it is
worth all it has cost. 1t is natural
or US to place high value on what
We possess, but l think our flag is
he most precious in all the world.
lave you ever thought seriously
a - &lr