Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-04-18
The American Flag

The quickeniug OF the pulse or pa
| triotism is reflected In the corrcspon-
! dencc OF Tho Times Dispatch Infor-
| NATION Bureau in food OF inquiries
about tho American flag. \ really re-
| markablc collection of information re-
garding tho use aUh history OF the nag,
and laws concerning il has been made
| in answering these. and some OF IL Is
| here briefly set forth.
With regard to the use OF the flag.
| If you hang /; from window. II
should be suspended by the same edge
which is ordinarily attached to tho
pole. with the canton or blue neld at
the left. and if two flags arc hung
together, tho cantons should DO placed
together. II a flag is draped across the
| street. tho blue canton should be up.
The rules formulated for the use OF thu
nag by the Sons OF the American
Revolution provide that il should not
! he hoistcd before sunrisc. nor left IN
after sunset At retreat and sunset,
civilian spectators should stand at at
tcntion. and they should uncover dur
ing the playing OF the ar-Spangled
banner. Military spectators arc re-
ouired by regulation to stand at at
tention and salute When the national
colors arc passing on parade or in re-
view, the spectator should. II walking.
halt. and, II sitting. arise and stand at
attention and uncover During the
\
| treat the flag should he lowered but
| not allowed to touch the ground. When
the national flag and a State flag fly to-
gether, the national flag should be at
| the right. The flag is dropped TO half
mast as sign of mourning. and is
placed with the canton downward as
Il signal of distress.
The history of the flag in some de-
| tail has also been ELECTED by our
| correspondents. In the early days OF
the American Revolution. each state
used it's own flag. In 1777 the Stars
and Stripes were adopted as national
emblem. at first II was provided that
| new star and new stripe be added
| for each new State, but the rapid cx-
| tension Of the country made this so in
| convenient that in 1918 it WAS decided
| to go back to the thirteen stripes and
add one star for every new State.
The stars and Bars is the name
applied to the flag Of tho Confederate
| States of America. The first Confcd-
crate flag WAS presented by G. r. Dick
son to President Barry. of the Scces-
sion Convention of 1851 The Union
flag was not altered during the Civil
War: the stars representing the SC
ceding Statos were retained
| 1t is said that the design for the
| American flag was borrowed from the
coat Of arms OF tho Washington family.
| so that this symbol of democracy may
nave had an aristocratic origin. Tho
stars and Stripes" were first raised
| by Washington at Cambridge. Mass
January =. 1875. Another explanation
| OF the origin OF the design is that the
stars replaced the British crosses in
the British flag. and 1t is said that in
| very old flags. tho stars are arranged
in peculiar way. supposedly for this
| purpose.
There arc three standard sizes for
the flag provided by War Department,
| regulation. These are the garrison
flag. which is IS by 20 feet; the nos,
tiaE. which Is 10 by 10 feet. and tho
storm flag, which is a1-2 nv feet
Old government fngs arc sent nv the
Quartermnstcr's Department to Phila
| delohia, where they are shredded.