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 The Fla£ of the United States 
 
 Address delivered by W. O. Hart of 
 New Orleans, at the Welcome of the 
 Soldiers and Sailor Members of the 
 Commercial Law League of America. 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, August 20, 1919. 
 
THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Address by W. O. Hart, New Orleans. 
 
 The origin of the Flag of the United States, the American flag, as we gen- 
 erally call it, is not involved in doubt or clouded by obscurity as many speakers 
 and writers say from time to time. War brought our flag, like many others, into 
 the world. When men first began to fight — and they began just as soon as there 
 was anybody to fight with — the leader of each little band found that he needed 
 an emblem round which his followers could rally and that could be seen from 
 a distance by any of his retainers and bring them quickly into the thickest of 
 the fray. 
 
 Our Flag began quite naturally and in this way: 
 
 As is well known, when the Thirteen Cplonies revolted against Great Britain 
 in 1775, it was with no idea of becoming separated from the mother country, but 
 was an effort by a resort to arms to obtain a redress of their grievances which 
 they had failed to get by peaceful means. When George Washington took com- 
 mand of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass., in January, 1776, there was 
 no flag representing the Thirteen Colonies, as a whole; every colony had a flag 
 of its own, some had several, and it is stated that Pennsylvania had a different 
 one for each regiment. Washington believed there should be one flag; and bearing 
 in mind that the colonies were still a part of Great Britain, he took one of the 
 flags of that country, which at that time was composed of a field of solid red with 
 the Union in the corner of blue on which were placed the crosses of St. George 
 and St. Andrew, the cross of St. Patrick being not then there because Ireland 
 was not then a part of the United Kingdom, and upon this flag he caused to 
 be sewed six white stripes, thus giving it the thirteen stripes of alternate red 
 and white, as we now see on the flag, and these represented the thirteen col- 
 onies, while the cross of the Union represented the mother country. As Wash- 
 ington expressed it, "the stripes standing for the union of the colonies and their 
 -olt against the mother country, and the crosses indicating an allegiance to her 
 
 wholly abandoned." 
 
 Washington and the Americans called this flag the Grand Union Flag; but 
 -h.n reported in England, the flag was alluded to as "The Thirteen Rebellious 
 Bu?pes." It was said to have been mistaken by the English troops in Boston as 
 a ken of surrender by the colonists, and for this, or some other reason, the 
 flag was but little used. 
 
 While on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by 
 which the United States came into being, the attention of Congress was not 
 directed to an official flag until nearly a year afterwards, when that Congress 
 adopted the following resolution: 
 
 "RESOLVED, That the flag of the Thirteen United States be thirteen 
 stripes of alternate red and white, that the Union be thirteen stars, white 
 ) , on a blue field, representing a new constellation." 
 
 John Adams of Massachusetts presented the resolution but it is said that the 
 words "representing a new constellation" were suggested by Washington. 
 
 Previous to the date above given, a committee had been appointed by 
 Congress consisting of George Washington, George Morris, and Robert Ross, to 
 present a design for the national flag, and at the suggestion of Mr. Ross, the com- 
 mittee called on Betsy Ross, the widow of his nephew, a milliner and uphol- 
 sterer of Philadelphia, to make the flag; Washington carried with him a design 
 of the flag on which the stars were six-pointed, and Mrs. Ross was asked if she 
 could make a flag from the design; she said she would try, and that meant that 
 she would succeed; but she suggested a five-pointed star as more artistic and 
 which could be made accurately with a single clip of the scissors, which feat 
 she demonstrated to the committee. 
 
 It was Washington's idea that the stars be placed in a circle, typifying the 
 equality of the thirteen states, no one being of more importance than the others. 
 
 When the flag was completed and presented to Congress, Washington thus 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 DOCUMtiVl,- ., Ii ...ION 
 
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 described it: "We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother coun- 
 try, separating it by white stripes, thus showing we have separated from her, 
 and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty." 
 
 The flag was not officially promulgated until September 3, 1777, though It 
 was raised in military service on August 2d of the same year at Fort Stanwix, now 
 the present site of Rome, New York. That flag was made in the Fort, the red 
 stripes being formed from the petticoat of a lady, the white from the shirt of a 
 soldier, and the blue from the military coat of Captain Abraham Swartout, an 
 American officer, who was subsequently reimbursed by Congress therefor. 
 
 The flag was first officially used, as far as we know, at the Battle of Saratoga 
 when the British, as they surrendered, were compelled to salute it as they 
 marched along. John Paul Jones, the first commander of the American Navy, 
 was the first to hoist the flag over an American Man-of-War, the first to receive 
 and acknowledge a salute from a foreign power, and the first to compel a British 
 Man-of-War to strike to it. 
 
 Some poeple claim that Betsy Ross never existed, and that the shop in 
 Arch street, Philadelphia, pointed out as the place where the flag was first made, 
 and now a shrine of American liberty and patriotism, was, like Betsy Ross, 
 without existence as a historical fact; be this as it may, however, Betsy Ross 
 did exist, for I have examined the annals of Congress and have seen acts of 
 appropriation in her favor for making flags for the United States. This original 
 flag will ever be known as the Betsy Ross flag, and every American should visit 
 the shop in Arch street, Philadelphia, where, I believe, the first flag was made. 
 
 The first state to be. admitted after the original thirteen was Vermont, in 
 1791, and then Kentucky in 1792, and so in 1794 an act was passed providing 
 that the flag thereafter should be of 15 stripes and 15 stars, the idea being 
 that as each new state was admitted there should be added to the flag both a 
 stripe and a star. The law authorizing this flag was signed by President Washing- 
 ton, this representing the third flag with which he was officially connected. 
 
 This was the flag for 23 years, and under it many of the most momentous 
 events in the history of America took place. It is generally known as the Flag 
 of 1812, because it was the flag used during that war. It was the flag used by 
 Perry at the Battle of Put-in-Bay in 1813, where his wonderful victory was an- 
 nounced in the laconic report to General Harrison, "We have met the enemy and 
 they are ours." 
 
 In the great painting in the Capitol at Was hington representing Perry's 
 from one ship to another, the flag he carries has g^stars ; but tnis is an anachroi 
 that frequently happens in historical paintings. The painter calls for a flag and 
 usually one is given to him of the period of the painting, and he not bein 
 historian, puts it in as he gets it. You will also remember that in the paini 
 of Washington Crossing the Delaware, he carries a flag of the United States. ~. 
 thirteen stripes and thirteen stars, which had not then been adopted. 
 
 The flag of .15 stripes and 15 stars was the one under which the Battle of 
 New Orleans was fought January 8, 1815, the last battle of that war and the battle 
 which marked the beginning of the one hundred years of peace between the 
 English speaking peoples of the world, the century ending in 1915, but which 
 peace we hope will last forever. 
 
 This was also the flag that inspired the writing of the "Star Spangled Ban- 
 ner," it being the flag displayed over Fort McHenry when on September 14, 1814, 
 Francis Scott Key, on the little vessel, the "Minden," composed our immortal 
 national anthem, when the British after a bombardment of twenty-five hours gave 
 up the attempt to capture the Fort and the City of Baltimore. This particular 
 flag was made in Baltimore by Mrs. Mary Pickersgill, whose house, No. 60 Alber- 
 marle street, was suitably marked during the Star Spangled Banner centennial 
 celebration of 1914. This flag is still in existence and is in the old National 
 Museum at Washington and should be visited by every American. Originally 
 it was 32 feet in length, but about six feet were cut off by relic hunters before 
 the flag was finally obtained by the Government for preservation, by donation from 
 Eben Appleton of New York, a descendant of Colonel George Armistead, the 
 defender of the Fort and to whom Congress gave the flag. A monument to Colonel 
 Armistead was unveiled at Baltimore during the centennial celebration of 1914. 
 Down in the Baltimore channel where the Minden swung at anchor more than a 
 century ago, a great buoy has been placed. It stands thirteen feet above the 
 water line — a foot for each of the original states. The apex is painted blue, and 
 
the blue is spangled with fifteen stars. Fifteen stripes, red and white, cover 
 the body. It was perhaps a prophetic vision that Key saw — the whole world rolling 
 in under the flag of America, the emblem of peace and liberty. The stars of this 
 flag are in five rows of three each, and the third star on the fourth row was 
 shot out by one of the British guns during the bombardment of the Fort. It was 
 under this flag that were fought the Indian wars of 1811 which, with the death of 
 Tecumseh, ended all trouble with the Indians east of the Mississippi River, and was 
 the flag under which Decatur ended for all times the depredations of and the 
 exacting of tribute by the pirates and rulers of the Barbary States. It was also 
 the first flag to be raised over a school house which happened at Colrain, Mass., 
 in May, 1812. 
 
 Francis Scott Key was born on the 9th of August, 1780, on the estate of his 
 father, John Ross Key, at Terra Ruba, in Frederick County, Maryland, and died 
 at Baltimore, January 11, 1843, within a gun's shot of Fort McHenry, whose 
 stubborn defense will ever be perpetuated in the beautiful lines of, his immortal 
 verse. 
 
 He became one of the prominent lawyers of his day and was engaged in 
 many important cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, being at one 
 time counsel in the celebrated Gaines Case, wherein Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines of 
 New Orleans was seeking the fortune of her father, Daniel Clark, which she 
 finally received, but almost fifty years after the death of Mr. Key. There are 
 statue a to him in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif., in the City of Balti- 
 more, and over his grave at Frederick, Md., and now the Government of the 
 United States is building a memorial bridge in his honor with one approach in 
 Georgetown in the District of Columbia, where he lived for so many years. 
 
 The states came in so fast, however, that it was found unwieldy to increase 
 the number of stripes for every state, and accordingly on the admission of Indiana, 
 in 1816, the 19th state, the other three being in their order Tennessee, Ohio and 
 Louisiana (Ohio therefore being admitted under the flag of 15 stripes and 15 stars), 
 Mr. Peter H. Wendover of New York offered a resolution in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives as follows: 
 
 "That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expediency of altering 
 the flag of the United States." A committee was appointed, who reported a bill 
 on th( f January, 1817; but it was not acted upon. While the committee had 
 
 the matter under consideration, Mr. Wendover called upon Capt. S. C. Reid, who 
 was in Washington at that time, and requested him to form a design for the flag, 
 so as to represent the increase of the states without destroying its distinctive 
 character, as the committee could agree on nothing except to increase the stars and 
 stripes to the whole number of states. 
 
 Reid recommended that the stripes be reduced to the original number 
 l states, and to form of the number of stars representing each state 
 one great star in the Union, adding one star for every new state, thus giving 
 the significant meaning to the flag, symbolically expressed of "E Pluribus Unum." 
 This design of Capt. Reid was adopted in the committee, but the bill did not pass 
 until 1818 during the meeting of the next Congress. 
 
 The committee finally reported to the House that they had maturely examined 
 the subject submitted to their consideration and further said: 
 
 "We are well aware that any proposition essentially to alter the flag of 
 the United States, either in the general form or the distribution of its parts, 
 would be as unacceptable to the Congress and to the people as it would be 
 uncongenial to the views of the committee. 
 
 "Fully persuaded that the form selected for the American flag was truly 
 emblematical of our origin and existence as an independent nation, and that, 
 as such, it has received the approbation and support of the citizens of the 
 Union, it ought to undergo no change that would decrease its conspicuity or 
 tend to deprive it of its representative character. The committee, however, 
 believe that a change in the number of states in the Union sufficiently indi- 
 cates the propriety of an arrangement of the flag as shall best accord with 
 the reason that led to its adoption and sufficiently points to the important 
 periods in our history. 
 
 "The original flag of the United States was composed of thirteen stripes 
 and thirteen stars, and was adopted by a resolution of the Continental Con- 
 gress on the 14th of June, 1777. On the 13th of January, 1794, after two states 
 had been admitted to the Union, the Congress passed an act that the stripes 
 
 4 
 
and stars should, on a day fixed, be increased to fifteen each, to comport with 
 the then number of states. The accession of new states since that altera- 
 tion, and the certain prospect that at no distant period the number of states 
 will be considerably multiplied, render it, in the opinion of the committee, 
 highly inexpedient to increase the number of stripes, as every flag must in 
 some measure be limited in size, from the circumstances of convenience to 
 the place on which it is to be displayed, while such an increase would neces- 
 sarily decrease their magnitude and render them proportionately less distinct 
 to distant observation. This consideration has induced many to retain only 
 the general form of the flag, while there actually exists a great want of uni- 
 formity in its adjustment, particularly when used on small private vessels. 
 
 "The National flag being in general use by vessels of almost every descrip- 
 tion, it appears to the committee of considerable importance to adopt some 
 arrangement calculated to prevent, in future, great or extensive alterations. 
 Under these impressions they are led to believe no alterations could be made 
 more emblematical of our origin and present existence, as composed of a 
 number of independent and united states, than to reduce the stripes to the 
 original thirteen, representing the number of states then contending for and, 
 happily, achieving their independence, and to increase the stars to correspond 
 with the number of states now in the union, and hereafter to add one star 
 to the flag whenever a new state shall be admitted. 
 
 "These slight alterations will, in the opinion o£ the committee, meet the 
 general approbation, as well of those who may have regretted a former de- 
 parture from the original flag, as of such as are solicitous to see in it a repre- 
 sentation of every state in the union. 
 
 "The committee cannot believe that in retaining only thirteen stripes it 
 necessarily follows they should be distinctly considered in reference to certain 
 individual states, inasmuch as nearly all the new states were a component part 
 of, and represented in, the original; and inasmuch, also, as the flag is in- 
 tended to signify numbers and not local and particular sections of the Union." 
 
 Through pressure of what Congress probably considered more important 
 business the bill remained unacted upon; but upon the convening of Congress 
 for the next session, Mr. Wendover renewed his resolution "that a committee 
 be appointed to inquire into the expediency of altering the flag of the United 
 States and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise." 
 
 The resolution was adopted and a committee appointed of which Mr. T 
 was made chairman. On January 6, 1818, Mr. Wendover submitted a report of 
 the committee accompanied with a bill which was substantially the same as that 
 reported by the committee of the previous session. 
 
 The bill passed the house on the 25th of March and the Senate on March 31st, 
 and it was signed by President Monroe on the 4th of April, 1818. The 1 is as 
 follows : 
 
 "Section 1. Be it enacted, That from and after the 4th day of J lj 
 
 the flag of the United States be 13 horizontal bars, alternate red and white; 
 that the union have 20 stars, white in a blue field. 
 
 "Section 2. Be it further enacted, That on the admission of every new 
 state in the union one star be added to the union of the flag and that such 
 addition take effect on the 4th of July next succeeding such admission." 
 
 The first flag raised after the enactment of this law was hoisted on the flag- 
 staff of the House of Representatives on the 13th of April, 1818. This flag was 
 made under the supervision of Capt. Reid by his wife and some other ladies, at 
 her home on Cherry street, New York City, and the stars were arranged to 
 form one great star in the center of the union, in accordance with the plan of 
 the designer. 
 
 Capt. Reid, to whom our flag, as we now know it, is so largely due, was a naval 
 officer who won fame in 1814 when he commanded the American privateer Gen. 
 Armstrong, by defeating much superior British naval forces at Fayal in the 
 Azores. The British ships were on their way to join the fleet assembled in the 
 West Indies to transport Pakenham's soldiers to attack New Orleans. The neces- 
 sity of burying the dead, caring for the wounded, and attending to repairs to the 
 ships after their defeat at the hands of Capt. Reid, caused a delay of ten days. 
 And while the British Admiral chafed under the delay, Andrew Jackson was able 
 to bring up troops and supplies in readiness for one of the most memorable battles 
 in our history. 
 
Reid was acclaimed with great honor upon his return to the United States, 
 and rendered his country many other services before his death in 1861. 
 
 This flag with the stars placed as one great star is known as the flag of 
 ISIS, but the manner of placing the stars did not become popular owing, probably, 
 to the difficulty of changing the great star when a new state was added, and so 
 the arrangement from that time up to a few years ago was irregular and followed 
 no established form. 
 
 As will be noticed above, the act of 1818 provided that a new star or stars 
 should be added to the flag on the 4th of July following the admission of a state 
 or states and not immediately upon the admission as most people believe. This 
 is to avoid, of course, the change of the flag more than once a year. The greatest 
 change after 1818 when the flag was increased from 15 to 20 stars was July 4th 
 in the year 1890, when the flag was increased from 38 to 43 stars because there 
 were admitted during the preceding twelve months the new states of North 
 Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho; no state had previously 
 been admitted since 1876 and the flag remained without change of any kind during 
 23 years. 
 
 Perhaps you will be interested in knowing how the name "Old Glory" orig- 
 inated, and I give you the following brief description thereof: 
 
 Captain William Driver was, without doubt, the first man to christen our 
 flag "Old Glory." He was born in Salem, Mass., March 17, 1803. When about 
 to sail from that port in command of the brig "Charles Doggett" in the year 1831, 
 he was presented with a large American flag. As it was sent aloft, and broke 
 out into the breeze Captain Driver christened the beautiful emblem "Old Glory," 
 and this was the name he ever after used for it. His flag shared with the captain 
 his perils and adventures of the deep, and on his retirement from the sea was 
 taken by him to Nashville, Tenn., where he made his home. 
 
 The captain was a most pronounced "union man" and his outspoken fondness 
 for the flag made him widely known as "Old Glory Driver." During the Civil 
 War his neighbors naturally felt a special desire to have that particular flag. The 
 captain's home and grounds were repeatedly searched, but in vain. They knew 
 it was there, but find it they could not. The old captain told them they should 
 see it only when it floated over a united country. In order to keep it safe for 
 that longed for time, the captain with his own hands quilted "Old Glory" into a 
 3r and made it his bedfellow. 
 
 ven peace was restored, true to his promise, Captain Driver took the flag 
 to the capitol building in Nashville, and it was soon waving over the city. As 
 he saw it once more unfurled, the old man exclaimed, "Now that 'Old Glory' 
 Is v ere, gentlemen, I am ready to die." 
 
 1882 — just four years before his death — the captain gave the beloved 
 tag to his niece, Mrs. Cooke, with directions for her to do with it as she thought 
 best after his death. She afterwards presented it to its present caretaker, the 
 Essex Institute of Salem. So, after all its voyages and vicissitudes, the original 
 "Old Glory" is today safe in the very harbor from which it first sailed away eighty- 
 eight years ago. 
 
 The flag to which the name of "Old Glory" was given was the flag of 24 stars. 
 
 In the Mexican War which added to the union territory which is now repre- 
 sented by five great states: California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, 
 the flag bore 29 stars. 
 
 It seems that for many years the army did not carry as a rule, the Stars 
 and Stripes in battle, though it had been in general use as a garrison flag. The 
 land forces during this period and before carried what was known as national 
 colors or standards of blue, with the coat of arms of the United States, compris- 
 ing an eagle surmounted by a number of stars, emblazoned thereon, with the 
 designation of the body of troops. In 1834, War Department regulations gave the 
 artillery the right to carry the Stars and Stripes. The infantry and cavalry still 
 used the national standards, which remained the colors of the infantry until 1841, 
 and of the cavalry until 1887, when that branch of the army was ordered to carry 
 the Stars and Stripes. From its adoption in 1777, however, naval vessels uni- 
 versally displayed the National Flag and there is a tradition in the navy that 
 ship should reserve its biggest, most imposing flag for battle. For most other 
 purposes what is known as flag No. 2 is employed. When, however, the decks are 
 cleared for action flag No. 1, the finest of them all, is brought out and her beauty 
 
proudly displayed to the enemy. The history of the flag thus indicates that the 
 Stars and Stripes was not officially carried, by American troops in battle until the 
 period of the Mexican War, 1846-47. 
 
 Kansas was admitted as a state before the breaking out of the war between 
 the states in 1861, and therefore it was entitled to a star on the flag on the 
 4th of July of that year, and the first flag made with the 34 stars was in honor 
 of Kansas that day raised by President Lincoln himself, on Independence Hall, 
 and that makes it one of the historic flags of our country. 
 
 At the end of the war between the states, the flag had 35 stars, for though 
 Nevada was admitted before the end, it was admitted after July 4, 1864, and its 
 star did not go on the flag until July 4, 1865. This flag of 35 stars is the flag 
 of our reunited country; for while the southern states were reduced to terri- 
 tories by acts of Congress, no congress had the temerity to suggest the removal 
 nor any executive or military officer the effrontery to remove any of the stars 
 from the flag; and, as President Lincoln expressed it more than once during the 
 war, the flag represented "A star for every state and a state for every star," 
 and so it remained notwithstanding the war and reconstruction. 
 
 Nebraska was the first state admitted after the war and was the 37th state 
 of the American union; its star went on the flag July 4, 1867, and this flag was 
 the first flag raised on United States territory not contiguous when Gen. Lovell 
 Harrison Rousseau of Kentucky took possession of Alaska in the name of the 
 United States in that year. 
 
 During the Spanish-American War the flag had 45 stars, and the "Old Glory" 
 of today, as we all know, has 48 stars arranged in six rows of eight each, so it 
 is very easy to locate your state on the flag by finding when it was admitted; 
 Ohio, for instance, the 17th state, is the first star on the third row. The proba- 
 bility, nay, the certainty is that the form of the flag will never change, for 
 though in 1914 a bill was introduced in Congress providing: 
 
 "That the flag of the United States of America shall hereafter be as de- 
 scribed: It shall consist of 13 alternating stripes of red and white, with a field 
 of blue in which shall be stars to the extent of 48, arranged in a circle, to symbolize 
 our Federal Union, which said circle shall be increased one star upon the admis- 
 sion of any other state. Within said circle of 48 stars shall be one large five- 
 pointed star, constructed of smaller stars, which shall symbolize and represent 
 our unparalleled Nation, the great Republic of the world. In the center of said 
 star so constructed of smaller stars as above described shall be a red circle, which 
 shall represent our colonial and insular possessions;" but the suggestion met with 
 no favor and the project was dropped. 
 
 Thank God the Stars and Stripes wave over a nation that has fought its way 
 to where it stands, and represent the very essence of liberty and justice. W 
 Because the will of the people rule the United States and every American citizen 
 can assert without fear of successful contradiction that the United States is the 
 representative of a principle by which is reached the infinite heights of inde- 
 pendence and freedom. And under the Stars and Stripes, God's loving kindness 
 will lead this nation on; on, in the broad sunshine of liberty; on, along the great 
 highway of the Nation's progress to the future of the Nation's hope. Ours is 
 the most reliable flag for it was never absent when duty called, never disobeyed 
 orders, never faltered under fire, and its sentinel stars never closed their eyes 
 on even the darkest night; the most sacred flag for it has been baptised in the 
 best blood of the world. 
 
 Dear Old Flag! May its stars bedeck the earth like the stars of the firma- 
 ment; may its folds kiss the breeze of every clime and its stripes bring that 
 universal love of freedom, liberty, prosperity and happiness which it bears to every, 
 living heart! Our bright new Flag, whispering to us through thy restless, billowy 
 folds — as sweet and solemn as matin chimes — a pledge of coming strength and 
 glory while thy stars glitter as they gleam at us with a beauty indescribable! 
 And our people have followed thee in storm and sunshine, in victory or disaster, 
 with as much confidence and as great reverence as did the children of Israel, the 
 pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night; for thou art always the beauty of 
 battle, the rainbow of promise! 
 
 While mistakes in governmental policies may occur and we may differ upon 
 ways and means and policies, in the American flag we have that element of in- 
 spiration that goes toward the rounding out of the best that is in us all, and 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 IIIIIIIHIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllliiiiiiiiiiiiii 
 
 prompts us all to try to be real types of American citizens. ] 022 008 961 7 
 love and all indorse the beautiful lines of Nesbit: 
 
 Your flag and my flag, and how it flies today; 
 
 In your land and my land and half the world away; 
 
 Rose red and blood red its stripes forever gleam; 
 
 Snow white and soul white the good forefathers dream; 
 
 Sky blue and true blue, with stars that gleam aright; 
 
 A gloried guidon of the day; a shelter thro' the night. 
 
 Your flag and my flag, and oh how much it holds! 
 Your land and my land secure within its folds; 
 Your heart and my heart beat quicker at the sight; 
 Sun kissed and wind tossed, the red and blue and white; 
 The one flag, the great flag, the flag for me and you; 
 Glorified, all else beside, the red and white and blue. 
 
 The flag of the United States has been carried to victory on foreign soil in 
 every continent of the world, Africa, North America, Oceanica, Asia, South Amer- 
 ica, and Europe, and has never known defeat, and has never been trailed in dust 
 or dishonor. It is respected by all the world as the flag of a great nation, upon 
 which the sun never sets. 
 
 Officially, the flag of the United States is the "Stars and Stripes." When 
 used by the army it is called the "standard or the colors;" when used by the navy 
 it is known as the "ensign." 
 
 There are only two flags that may be raised above the flag of the United 
 States. These are the church pennant and the flag of death. The church pennant 
 is a blue cross on a white ground; and it is said that when the Spanish soldiers 
 and sailors saw this pennant above the Stars and Stripes on the Sunday morning 
 of the battle of Manila Bay they were at a loss to conceive what it meant, some 
 of them believing that it represented the striking of the colors of the United States. 
 
 The other flag which may appear above the flag of the United States is the 
 
 flag of death, but like death it is invisible; the theory is that, when the flag is 
 
 lowered to half mast in respect to some honored dead, the flag of death flies above 
 
 it, invisible as above stated, but one of the two flags to which the United States 
 
 show obeisance. 
 
 "Then conquer we must when our cause it is just 
 
 And this be our motto: In God be our trust, 
 
 And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave 
 
 O'er the land pf the free and the home of the brave." 
 
 « 
 
 There is a pretty story told of the honor Jenny Lind, the Swedish nightingale, 
 > paid to the American flag. It was when she was in New York more than 
 y years ago. The frigate St. Lawrence had just returned from a cruise, and 
 the midshipmen went to hear the Swedish Nightingale sing at Castle Garden The- 
 ater, and the next day they called on her in a body. Their enthusiasm and her 
 graciousness soon brought about a visit to the ship and the acceptance of a 
 luncheon tendered her. When she was about to leave the ship she looked up at 
 the Stars and Stripes and said: "I wish to salute your flag." So, standing on 
 the gangway, she sang, "The Star Spangled Banner." Silently from all over the 
 ship men gathered with uncovered heads, until the ship's family were all assem- 
 bled on the deck. Nor were they her only audience, for, borne upon the still air 
 her song had been heard by many other vessels nearby, and when the wondrous 
 voice ceased steamers blew their whistles and exultant cheers rose from all sides, 
 filling the harbor with their tribute of applause for the beloved artist and of loyal 
 reverence for the flag she had so beautifully saluted. 
 
 Now, I will ask, in conclusion, for you all to rise and follow me in the salute 
 to the Flag. 
 
 "I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands; 
 one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all!" 
 
 During the address Mr. Hart illustrated his remarks with copies of the eleven 
 historical Flags referred to by him: The Grand Union Flag, the Betsy Ross Flag. 
 the Flag of 1812, the Flag of 1818, "Old Glory," the Mexican War Flag, the Flags 
 of !8Gi, 1865 and 1867, the Spanish-American War Flag, and the Flag of today. 
 
 IMI a 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 022 008 961 7