Evening star., 1921-11-19

Interest in the Armistice day dis
play of flags of participating nations
in the limita tion of armament confer
ence. and the War Department sug-
gestion that these flags should be
flown again during The final two
weeks of the conference led to The
issuance by the National Geographic
Society of the following bulletin con-
cerning these ensigns.
1.-The display of flags of the nine
participating nations is one OF the
chief points Of scenic interest in the
National Capital. as well as in other
places visited by members Of the dele
CATION or wishing to pay honor to the
great conclave of nations now in
progress.
"Curiosity first is aroused over the
arrangement of the rags. as pre-
scribed by the War Department.
! which arrangement is. from left TO
right. looking from building toward
| the street Portugal. China. japan.
France. United States fcenter). Great
Britain. Italy. Belgium. Netherlands
In addition there seems to he con-
fusion in the case of several nations
about which of their flags TO display
Order Not MeaninEIess.
"At hrst glance that order may
seem meaningless. but il il he COM
pared to the seating Of dinner guests.
the reason for the arrangement
becomes clear. America. the hostess.
is in the center. with tw" Of the
major allied powers to the right
and two upon the left. The other
four nations which were invited
because Of their special interest in
problems to be disc used are disposed
of alpha beticaily. Belgium to the one
oil do In It
Netherlands and Portugal. because of
the fortunes of the alphabet rather
than any distinction of importance.
upon each end.
1T is interesting TO note that this
order was followed punctiliously by
come to the confsr":.cc-that iS. the
British empire. France. Italy. Japan.
Belgium. China. the Netherlands and
Portugal.
"A brief description of each nag to
be displayed is herewith given. The
information therein is from Flags OF
the World by Byron McCandless and
Gilbert Grosvenor. the authoritative
reference work on flags of all nations
Great Britain's Union jack.
"The national flag Of the British
empire. the union jack. combines the
crosses of St. George. st. Andrew and
| st. Patrick. When the union of the
| two crowns of England and Scotland
| took place upon the accession OF
James vi of Scotland to the English
! throne as James !. the cross of ST.
! Andrew. the patron saint of Scotland.
and that of St. George. the patron
saint Of England. were combined. and
all ships we're ordered to ny at their
| maintop the new nag, while at the
foretop the English were still TO ny
| the red cross of St. George and the
Scots and white cross Of st. Andrew
That St Georges cross was placed
| over St. Andrews was distressing TO
| the Scots who made it the subject Of
an appeal to the king. After the death
of Charles I the union of Scotland and
England was dissolved and the ships
| of parliament reverted to the use of
| the simple cross of ST. George. while
those of Scotland took up the cross of
st. Andrew again When Cromwell
became protector he restored the
union flag, imposing the irish harp
upon it's center.
After the restoration. Charles III re-
moved the harp, and go the original
union flag was revived and continued
in that form until 1901. when. upon the
legislative union of Great Britain and
incorporated. To combine these
crosses without losing the character
istic features Of each was not easy.
Each had to be distinct and at the
same time retain a border which would
denote its original ground. To place
| the red cross of st. Patrick on the
| white cross of St Andrew would have
! obliterated the latter, and vice versa.
i Therefore. it was decided to make the
white broader on one side Of the red
| than the other. This breaks the con-
| tinuity of direction of the arms of St.
Patrick's cross. but permits the Irish
| and Scottish crosses to be dis1in-
| guished from one another.
| Trl-COlor of France.
THE familiar and inspiring tri-
color of France dates from the year
that gave the United States its Con-
stitution-17S9. The best authorities
are doubtful as to the true story of
! its origin, but there are three prin-
cipal theories as to the derivation of
it's combination of colors. The first
Of these. and the most authentic. is
that after the taking of the Bastille.
| when Lafayette had been appointed
by reclamation commander-in-c Chi ef
Of the national guard. he devised for
the guard a new cockade made of the
white of the royal family and of the
colors of Paris time out Of mind.
which were and continue to be red
and blue. From this cockade, most
historians believe, came the French
national flag. Another version links