I thought this was appropriate for Independence Day! If you look at coins of that era, they did indeed have six-pointed stars. Of course this story repeats the old legend of Betsy Ross - while it is now confirmed that she did make flags for the colonial army, there is no evidence that she made the very first "stars and stripes."Did it ever occur to you that the bunch of colored ribbons you wear in your buttonhole — or pinned on your dress if you are a girl — at commencement, or at a baseball or foot-ball game, is really a flag? It tells to what class or school or college you belong, or which of these, for the time, has your interest and sympathy. And for somewhat similar reasons do nations wear their colors. At first maybe it was to tell one another apart; but after a while the colors — the flag — came to represent the nation itself; and the way the people acted toward the nation's flag was supposed to show the way they felt toward the nation.
When the American army was encamped at Cambridge, just outside of Boston, General Washington felt the need of a distinctive flag. There were thirteen colonies represented in that army, and each had its own flag, while some had more than one. Among this miscellaneous lot of flags was the one, of which you have often seen pictures, showing a rattlesnake, and bearing the motto: "Don't tread on me."
But what the country needed was one flag, with a design that meant something. So Congress sent a committee, headed by Benjamin Franklin, which consulted with General Washington, and recommended a flag to stand for all the colonies. After much discussion the one adopted was that shown in Fig. 5 (below).
To understand how this flag grew from older flags, let us for a moment go back to the early flags of England.
In the early part of the fourteenth century the flag of England bore simply the red cross of St George on a white ground (see Fig. 1); while the flag of Scotland was a white St. Andrew's cross on a blue ground (see Fig. 2). In 1603 England and Scotland were united, and three years later the two flags were combined to form what was called the "king's colors" (see Fig. 3), England and Scotland, however, retaining their own individual flags. Indeed, it was the red cross of St. George that the "Mayflower" flew at her masthead when she brought her precious load of Pilgrims to Plymouth that cold winter of 1620, for she was an English ship.
In 1707 Great Britain adopted for herself and her colonies the flag shown in Fig. 4, the main part being red, but having in its upper corner the "king's colors," or "union" flag, which represented the union of England and Scotland; and since that time this part of the flag has been called the "union," or "jack," and sometimes the "union jack." The term "jack" is supposed to have come from Jacques, the French spelling of James, which form the then King of England, James I, used in signing his name.
This (Fig. 4) was the flag of Great Britain down to the year 1801, when Ireland was added to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This further extension to the nation was represented in the union by the addition of the cross of St. Patrick, which was a diagonal cross, like that of St. Andrew, only it was red on a white field. The combination of these three crosses of England, Scotland, and Ireland has formed the union in the flag of Great Britain from the year 1801 down to the present day. But this last form of the union jack is not shown here, for it has nothing to do with our flag, and never was used by any of the American colonies.
From the flag shown in Fig. 4 we come to that shown in Fig. 5 — the one that begins to show a resemblance to our own familiar flag. This was the flag recommended by Dr. Franklin's Congressional Committee. It was called the flag of the "United Colonies of America," and had for its union the union jack, made up of only the St. George and St. Andrew's crosses of the British flag; but its main field consisted of thirteen stripes, alternately red and white. There is nothing definite known as to what suggested the idea of the stripes, unless, as has been claimed, the stripes that appeared on the coat of arms of the Washington family; although a flag with stripes was used by the troop of light horse that escorted Washington from Philadelphia to New York when he took command of the army; and stripes were also used on one of the flags of the East India Company.
This flag was first used by the American army encamped at Cambridge. The next stage in the evolution of our flag was in 1777, when by resolution of Congress it was ordered "that the flag of the thirteen United States" (not colonies now) "be thirteen stripes alternately red and white" (just as in the flag then in use), but "the union to be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation" (see Fig. 6). In this new form we find another suggestion of the Washington coat of arms, which contained, in addition to two wide red bars, three stars; at least, they were in the form of stars, though in heraldry they would probably be called "mullets" or "rowels" — the sharp-pointed wheels used in riding-spurs.
At the time the stars and stripes were adopted Congress was sitting in Independence Hall, in Philadelphia. There was living in the city a widow named Elizabeth Ross, who, for several years, had made government and other flags. It was by this woman, in her home in Philadelphia, that the first flag authorized by Congress was made. It may be interesting to know that Mrs. Ross's home — the "Betsy Ross House," it is called — is still standing at 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
About five years ago a number of citizens were given a charter under the name of the "American Flag House and Betsy Ross Memorial Association." The objects of the association have been partially fulfilled by its purchasing the old Ross house and converting it into a museum.
It was in the back room of this house, then, that General Washington, Robert Morris, and a Colonel Ross discussed with Betsy Ross the details of the flag. It was here they decided that the thirteen stars should be placed in te form of a circle to show that it was for all time and had no end. When considering how many points the stars should have, it is reported that Betsy Ross suggested they be given five points, because the cloth could be folded in such a way that a complete star could be made by one cut of the scissors. This might be a good puzzle for the girls and boys to work out. Some of our older readers may recall the solution given in St. Nicholas for July, 1892. It is interesting to note that our flags all have five-pointed stars, while those on our coins are six-pointed.
This (Fig. 6) was the flag that was used at the battle of the Brandywine and at Germantown. It was with our army when Burgoyne surrendered; with Washington at Valley Forge; at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown; and at the evacuation of New York by the British in 1787.
After Vermont and Kentucky were admitted as States, Congress ordered that after May 1, 1795, the flag have fifteen stripes and fifteen stars (see Fig. 7). This was the flag that our army and navy carried in the War of 1812.
But scarcely less interesting to patriotic Americans is the fact that this particular form of the flag was the one used at the attack on Fort McHenry, when Francis Scott Key waited with the others for the return of morning to learn whether the fort had fallen; and when "by the dawn's early light" he saw through the mist "that our flag was still there," and was stirred into writing "The Star-Spangled Banner," which has since become our national anthem.
As will be seen from the illustration, this fifteen-stripe flag has not so graceful proportions as those of the preceding forms, and it soon became evident that if a new stripe were to be added for each State admitted into the Union, in the course of time the flag would become unwieldy. So in 1818, when there were twenty States, Congress passed a law to the effect that after the following July 4 our the number of stripes in the flag should be reduced to the original thirteen, but that the union should have twenty stars; and that as each new State was admitted another star should be added, to take effect the Fourth of July next following its admission.
From that time down to this day the stripes have stood for the original thirteen States, and the stars for all the States. From the twenty stars in 1818 the "union" has been filling up until there are now forty-five stars (see Fig. 8), and, without doubt, room will very soon have to be mads for three more when the territories of Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico shall be admitted as States.
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