The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-08-02
HISTORY OF THE FLAG
The Following is by Mrs Isabel Worrell Ball
in Shipping Illustrated.
first, and is known to the utter
most parts of the earth.

first, and is known to the utter
most parts of the earth.
The official flags of the United
States, those used by the Army
and Navy, have from the very be-
ginning, had the stars arranged in
parallel rows. The suggestion that
the first flag was made with cir
Gle of stars cannot be authenticated.
The earliest official flags show the
parallel arrangement. May 18,
1918, James Monroe, President of
the United States, issued an order
that the arrangement of the stars
should be in parallel rows on the
flags used by the Army and Navy,
and other branches of the United
States Government. President
Monroe also decided that the Of
fetal flags should be in the pro-
portion of II #. to "a; that the
union must be one-third of the
length of the flag and seven-thir-
teenths of it's depth, so that from
the top to the bottom of the union
there will be seven stripes, and six
stripes from the bottom of the
union to the bottom of the flag.
The lower stripe and the top stripe
to be red. Seven red and six
white.
The sun never sets upon the
United States flag. Somewhere
every hour and every minute of
the "a the sun is shining on Old
Glory.
There is strict and severe eti-
quette of the flag. The flag must
not be raised before sunrise. and
should be lowered at sunset. At
all the military posts and forts of
the Uuited States a sunrise and
sunset gun is fired as the flag is
raised to the top of the staff and as
it is lowered.
The flag should not be left out
over night, and upon stormy days
a very small flag, known as the
storm flag, should take the place Of
the regulation flag.
On Memorial Day, Grand Army
rules and Army and Navy regula-
tions prescribe that the flag shall
be flown at half-staff until noon,
and then shall be raised to the
peak for the remainder of the day.
In half masting the flag it should
be raised first to the top of the
staff, then lowered to a distance
corresponding to the width of the
flag that is used.
In raising the flag upon a staff
or a building and in lowering it all
the people witnessing the cere-
mony should stand at attention,
men with uncovered head and wo-
men with hand at forehead ready
to salute it.
Under no circumstances should
the flag be permitted to touch the
ground. In the Army and Navy
severe discipline is meted out to
those who disobey this regulation.
The official designation is the
United States flag.
In the Navy the United States
flag is generally referred to as an
ensign. The Union Jack is the
distinctive flag of the Navy. 1t is
comprised of the blue field of the
blue field of the United States flag
with a star for every State therein.
The Union Jack carried with the
United States flag must be just the
size of the field of the flag with
which it is carried, and should nev.
er be carried unless accompanied
by the national ensign.
The national salute to the United
States flag is 21 guns.
When used in decoration the
United States flag should not be
draped, as it is thing made to fly
in the free air of heaven. The
folds should hang straight down
and should never be pinned. nor
fastened. If you desire to use the
colors of the flag in drapery, it is