The Coolidge examiner., 1933-06-09


coat and breeches edged with green. Green was
the color of the early Revolutionary cavalrys
uniform. Marions riders wearing the Roman
esque helmet OF the French dragons and cuiras-
siers and a green skirted tunic with white re-
yers similar to that of the French guides cav
airy, whose uniform the first Napoleon was some
what partial TO, wearing ii quite frequently. The
Culpepper Minute Men wore green hunting shirts
and the standard of the Georgia Rangers In the
latter part of the war carried green and white
stripes.
When 1t came to adopting the Stars and
Stripes, however, the color scheme OF green was
dropped and various flags Of red, white and blue
that had been familiar TO American colonists for
more than 100 years exercised the prevailing in
fluence in the design for the Stars and Stripes.
The resolution adopting the flag appears in the
Journal of Congress among a whole page of reso
lutions presented by the marine committee on
The subject of the navy. On the same page with
the flag and other marine committee resolutions
is one appointing John Paul Jones TO the com
mand of the ship Ranger Jones was presented
flag by some women 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 ii appeared
in Europe show that the early navy flags were
arranged with the stars In horizontal parallel
rows Due TO their number, the stars were stag
gered that is, the stars in one row were placed
opposite the spaces between the stars in the
next. so that they looked like n constellation in
the heavens as the resolution had described
them. On one ship they were in five rows; on
another, in three
Ingenuity began to be displayed in the arrange
ment of stars in unofficial flags. In some they
were arranged in a square; In others, in a circle
Some had them in the shape Of single star,
diamond forming the letters ~. s.
At first, the Stars and Stripes were looked
upon merely as navy flag, but in 1918, under
the third flag law the present general design of
the flag was established This held the number
OF stripes to 13 and added a star for each state.
The second flag law. passed by congress In May
1895, provided 10 stripes for IS states as well as
Is stars: but as the number of states was in
creasing by 1918 IL was found necessary to cur
tail the amount of stripes.
Capt. Samuel Chester Reid, of the navy, hero
of a two-day engagement between his small brig
and British squadron of three large ships, was
called by the congressional committee to design
flag, and it his idea to hold the number
of red and white stripes to IS for the original 13
states and to add a star to the union for each
new state admitted
sued order, placing the stars in accordance
with the navy custom, in parallel horizontal rows
and with the stars on the second and fourth
rows moved to the right, one-half Of stars
space The order was signed by Commodore John
Rogers, president of the navy commissioners.
Six months later, he issued a change in the ar
rangement of the stars, approved by the Presi-
dent. This order required that the stars be ar
ranged in vertical and horizontal parallel rows
The act of 1918 gave the fixed rule of adding
a new star on the Fourth of July next succeed
ing the admission of the state but made no state
ment as to the exact arrangement of the stars
and this has been matter with which the Navy
department has been chiefly concerned
This is because the navy flies the Union alone
without the stripes in the bow of ships. The
navy has attended to details as to proportions
and design of the flag and still issues to all de-
partments blueprints of changes after approval
by the President. In recent years army and navy
have agreed on changes In 1884 the army pre-
scrbed the Stars and Stripes to replace its gar
rson flag then in use
Until 1912 there some confusion as to
the proper distribution of the 4S stars in the
blue field On October 26, 1912, this matter was
definitely settled by the executive order of Pres
ident Taft that the stars were to be arranged
in six rows of eight each symbolizing the 4S
states in the order of their ratification. (Thus
if you wish to know which star represents your
state in the flag remember what was its num-
Der in the order of admission TO the Union then
begin counting from the upper corner next to
the staff and the star which comes on the num-
Der corresponding to the number in the order Of
admission to the Union will be the star of your
state)
&c BY Western Newspaper Union)