Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-20


l. SPECIAL debt she owes to the
great founder, who definitely
1xets the site of the Federal city, the
District of Columbia is planning all
possible ways, both elaborate and
simple. of concentrating his 200th
birthday anniversary In 1882.
When Baltimore was making plans
to honor the birth of THE Star
Spangled Banner" in a great centen-
NAL celebration. she adopted city
nag; New York. preparing for her
250th anniversary in 1915. accepted
the same idea, while Boston was 50
delighted with the municipal banner
which made Its appearance as a part
of the Columbus day festival of 1913
that the City Council voted to adopt 1t
officially.
The story might be continued to in
clude hundred other American
cities, large and small. The city flag
of Reading, Pa, shows the arms of
the Penn family, members of which
were original proprietors and laid out
the city. Camden's flag displays the
coat of arms of Lord Camden. and
Rochester's the crest of the Rochester
family. Jacksonville, Fla, placed
upon her flag the city seal and in the
seal the figure is that of Andrew
Jackson, on IL horse rampant"
If cities all over the United States,
with much less reason than the Ma
tional Capital, have expressed their
pride in name and origin in this
simple fashion, why cannot WASH
ington or the District of Columbia
adopt n distinctive banner as one of
the ways in which the bicentennial
birthday of the founder of the city
may be honored?
1t happens that the first steps to-
io1 adn nf
tinctive flag for the District were
taken some time ago, by the introduce
ton of bills to that effect in both
houses of Congress. Twice the
Senate has passed the bill. but as yet
the House mas not seen fit to COM
plete the action.
Aside from Gen. Washington's in
terest in the designing of the ma
tional flag, which has often been de-
scribed, no one was more insistent
than the commanderin-chief upon
having distinctive emblems for all
the different branches of the service.
His account book shows that on July
10, 1775, he bought a blue ribbon Ito
distinguish himself" and a few days
later he issued a general order for
the different colored ribbons which
were to identify his various officers
DURING the following years his
H. letters contain many such pleas
as that SO often quoted, which his
secretary directed to the marine COM
mittee in 1776:~"Please fix upon some
particular color for flag and a signal
by which our vessels may know one
another"
Even after the adoption of the
Stars and Stripes, a headquarters flag
floated at Washingtons tent or
residence, and a flag was also given
to the Commander-in-chief's guard.
This guard was a body of picked men
who were always attached to head
quarters and were to pay no honors
except to the Commander-in-chief.
They were sometimes known as
Washington's life guard or body
guard.
A picture which shows their flag
is a copy of a sketch made by Benson
Losing from a flag owned by George
Washington Parke Gusts, At the
time the flag was sketched, LOSING
said it was in the old museum at
Alexandria, and he describes it as
follows: 1.-The flag is made of white
silk, on which the device is neatly
painted. One of the guard is seen
holding a horse, and is in the act of
receiving a flag from the Genius of
Liberty, personified by woman lean
ing upon the Union shield. near which
is the American eagle. The motto of
the corps, Conquer or Die is upon
another ribbon" In a note he adds:
Care was always taken to have each
State from which the Continental
Army was supplied with troops,
represented by members of this corps.
1t was the duty of the infantry por-
ton to guard the headquarters and to
fpS,,ro tho fa kQaninO of tho nanorc
and effects of the Commander-in-chief
as we'll as the safety of his person"
There is a striking analogy be-
tween the relation of this guard to
Gen. Washington and his headquar-
tiers and the relation of the District of
Columbia to the Federal Government
and its headquarters.
When the District of Columbia was
organized as territory in 1871, she
adopted a design for her territorial
seal in which the Genius of Liberty
again appears and is laying a wreath
at a statue. Although unidentified by
resemblance to the man who was
first in war and first in peace" the
statue undoubtedly represents Wash
ington, holding in his right hand a
sword and in the left the fasces of
government. The eagle and the
Union shield are also in evidence, and
to the right is the Capitol with the
Potomac River in the background.
About the time this seal was adopt
ed State seals were often placed
upon State flags, and in a Richmond
publication free translation of the
District seal is represented upon
field Of blue as the District flag. The
lady of the design is sitting down,
contemplating liberty cap on a pole
In front Of her. The eagle remains,
although for some unexplained rea-
son the statue of Washington has
been eliminated.
This is the only illustration obtain
able of flag attributed to the Dis
trict during it's first century, and
whether such a flag was ever used is
not on record. One can imagine the
seal design having been required to do
double duty In this fashion for many
patriotic purposes and during many
District celebrations. just as 1t has
been called upon to do in later years.
X X X
MO doubt innumerable committees
~ have entertained the thought
that an authorized District flag
would serve many purposes, and some
suggestions for a flag were sent TO
the Commissioners of the District
during the World War. The idea
first took definite form in a bill pre-
scented to Congress in 1920, at the re-
quest Of the Washington Board or
Trade.
In the report of the National Com.
mission of Fine Arts for 1921 we find
that the Board Of Trade bill had been
referred to the Arts Commission for
consideration and an obituary pro
nounced upon it because no appropria-
al After ruling