Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-04
History of the Flag Is Also History
OF Growth of Spirit of Independence

Union of the 13 colonies wa a. flag
with a green fly, with d union OF
white on which was a circle of 10
links in an endless chain. Outside the
circle Of l3 links was a. circle OF 13
hands or mailed fists emerging from
clouds and grasping the 10 links. In
the center of the circle of links was a
green pine tree on blue field. This
flag was carried by a Newburyport.
Mass, company. In 1884. nearly 100
years before the Revolution, the flag
of the Newburyport. Mass. Company
of Foot Troops had green as the color
of the fly. but the canton then carried
the Cross of st. George instead of the
IS links and hands. Green was the
color of the pine tree flag and Of the
liberty tree flags of Revolutionary
days.
In April, 1916. the Massachusetts
Council prescribed green and white as
the uniform of the officers in their
sea service. In the same year the
marine committee of the Continental
Congress in Philadelphia resolved that
the uniform of marine officers be r.
green coat. white waistcoat and
breeches edged with green. The
Culpeper Minute Men wore green
hunting shirts, and a standard Of the
Georgia rangers in the latter part of
the war carried green and white
stripes.
But when 1t came to adopting the
Stars and Stripes, the green was
dropped and the various flags Of red,
white and blue that had been ia
miliar to American Colonists for over a
hundred years exercised the prevailing
influence in the design of the Stars
and Stripes.
On the Rough Journal Of Congress.
Il d a
olution that gave the United States
the Stars and Stripes. 1t reads:
Resolved. That the flag of the 10
United States be 13 stripes, alternate
red and white; that the Union be
IS stars, white in a blue field. repre-
senting a new constellation
There is no written record of any
discussion of the design. nor are there
any contemporary writings on the
subject that have been found. The
resolution adopting the flag appears
OF a page of the Rough Journal of
Congress among a whole page of reso-
lutions presented by the marine COM
mittee on the subject of the Navy
Previous to the adoption of this flag
the one familiar to the marine COM
mittee was the Grand Union flag of
10 stripes, which was raised at Phila-
delphia over the new American fleet
and at Cambridge over the new Con-
tinental Army. 1t was only neceS-
sary in this flag to drop the British
Union and adopt the 10 stars of the
armed schooner Lee.
On the same page with the flag
and other marine committee resolu-
tons appears the resolution appoint
ing John Paul Jones to the command
of the Ranger. Jones was presented
a flag by some ladies of Philadelphia
and soon afterward he had the Stars
and Stripes flying at sea.
Contemporary illustrations of Jones
ships and the description of the new
| flag when 1t appeared in Europe show
| that the early Navy flags arranged
the stars in horizontal parallel rows.
Due to their number, the stars were
| staggered; that is, the stars of one
row were placed opposite the spaces
of the stars in the next row, so that
they looked like a Constellation" in
the heavens, as the resolution had
described them. In one ship they
were in five rows, in another In three
rows.
! Soon the ingenuity of individuals
was displayed in the arrangement Of
| the stars in unofficial flags. In the
museum at Salem, Mass, cotem-
porary prints show five illustrations of
merchant ships from 1895 to 1906 with
stars arranged in a square, and seven
| illustrations of merchant ships from
| 1928 to 1914 with the stars in a circle.
Other arrangements in merchant ships
| or in unofficial use on shore placed
the stars in one large star. in a
diamond.
On May 1s, 1918. the Navy COM
missioners issued an order placing the
stars in accordance with the Navy
custom Of parallel horizontal rows
and with the stars Of the second
and fourth Xows moved to the right
one-half star space. The order was
signed by Commodore John Rogers,
! president of the Navy commissioners.
| Six months later he's issued change
in the arrangement of the stars, ap-
proved by the President of the United
| States This order required the stars
| to be arranged both in vertical and
horizontal parallel rows.
Since the act of 1918 establishing
| the flag, the number of States has
more than doubled and stars have
been added accordingly.
lDIZZINESS is entirely unrelated to
II any disease of the glands Of in
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