vjvm PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON THE STARS AND STRIPES FROM WASHINGTON TO WILSON 1777-1914 Our National and State Laws are based on the Constitution and the Flag is its Symbol. BY CHARLES W. STEWART SUPEKINTHNDENT LIBRARY AND NAVAL, WAR RECORDS WASHINGTON, D. C. THE NAVY PUBLISHING CO. 1914 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY CHARLES W. STEWART PRESS OF FRANC. K. SHEIKV WASHINGTON, D. C. CONTENTS Preface v The Stars and Stripes from Washington to Wilson 1 The Birth of the Stars and Stripes 6 The Flag of Fifteen Stars 11 The Flags of Twenty Stars and Forty-eight Stars 14 Dimensions of the National Flag 17 Standard Proportions of National Emblem 18 Dates of Admission of the States of the Union 20 The Display of the Flag 21 Resolution of Congress designating Mother's Day 22 The President's Proclamation in regard to Mother's Day 2:5 Books and Lectures on the Flag 24 Illustrations. President Woodrow Wilson Frontispiece George Washington ix, John Paul Jones xi Admiral George Dewey, U. S. X xiii Flag of 1777-1795, Colored plate xvi Flag of 1795-1818, Colored plate xvi Flag of 1818, Colored plate xvii Flag of 1912, Colored plate xvii The Grand Union Flag, 177(5 4 Fac-simile of Resolution authorizing the Stars and Stripes 7 American Flag of Revolutionary Period S Maryland Flag carried in the Battle of Cowpens 9 The Flag of Fifteen Stars 11 The Star-Spangled Banner of Fort McHenry 12 Approximate Arrangement of Stars in the Enterprise Flag i:; Flag of 1912 15 Diagrams Showing Dimensions of U. S. Ensign 19 Diagrams of Boat Flag 25 Sonys and Ruyle Calls. America 29 The Star-Spangled Banner ><) The American Flag O Columbia, Gem of the Ocean Reveille Morning Colors Taps Evening Colors >5 PREFACE The story of "The Stars and Stripes from Washington to "Wilson," in "The Navy" for October, 1913, is here reprinted, with some additions of text and illustration. The flags in outline are from the Navy Department plan re- ferred to in Executive Order 1637 and show the proportions of the standard ensign and the navy boat flag, and the position, size, and arrangement of the stars in the ensign and in the boat flag. The portraits of George Washington, John Paul Jones, and George Dewey show the features of three of our heroes who have gained great victories in foreign wars. The Washington por- trait is from the painting, in the War Department, by Huntington after Trumbull and others. The frontispiece is of right that of the President. The colored plates of the Stars and Stripes show the flag of 1777 with stars in a circle. It is probable that army flags were, at first, thus arranged, and that navy flags bore the stars in some staggered or quincunx grouping. The known navy flags of the period 1795-1818 had the stars in horizontal rows staggered; the Xavy Commissioners, May 18, 1818, required the new flag to l;ear twenty stars in four horizontal rows, staggered. This form was changed to a rectangular grouping of the four horizontal rows by direction of the President, four months later. The rectangu- lar arrangement has been closely followed since that date. The writer has followed the flag through many written and printed records, and has found a growing reverence for the national en- sign and an increasing desire fcr fixed proportions and sizes of the flag, a desire that resulted in the Executive Order, 1(537. < >ctober 21), 1912. There is no known contemporaneous written account of the construction of our first national flag in 177(5 or 1777. and the Stars and Stripes was probably not widely known or generally used on land until after the Revolutionary War. Governments and nations are slow of growth. Our flag was r.ot the beloved ensign of a great nation when it was first used, and it is not strange that the State flags were then more important than the national flag. The Congress from 1775 to 1789 was [vj vi Preface composed of a succession of delegates, and its duties and powers were indicated in the Articles of Association adopted in 1774, and were more fully set forth in the Articles of Confederation agreed upon in 1777 and adopted July 9, 1778. The government was without power to prevent or punish offenses against its own laws. There was no President or other executive power except com- mittees of the Congress. After the Treaty of Peace in 1783, which ended the War of the Revolution, England refused to carry out that treaty or to send a minister to the United States. The Federal Government was despised abroad, disobeyed at home. Algiers declared war against the United States in 1785. In defense against intolerable conditions, at home and abroad, a Constitutional Convention, whose presiding officer was George Washington, adopted, in 1787, the Constitution (ratified by the States in 1788), which begins as follows: PREAMBLE. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the com- mon defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- stitution for the United States of America. Under this Constitution, from Washington to Wilson, our country has grown great from 3,000,000 to 100,000,000 of pop- ulation ; from a puny confederacy to the greatest nation in the world. The tests of foreign and civil war, bitter political and personal contests, financial disaster and unparalleled prosperity, and vast increase in territory, have tried and approved it. The Constitution provides for control of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial functions, both Federal and State. The stability of our own government, compared with the radical changes in those of every other nation, is the highest memorial of the wis- dom and patriotism of the men who framed the Constitution and of their successors who have supported, defended, and obeyed it. The boys and girls of the present will be the voters of the fu- ture ; they may amend the Constitution. It will be well for them to know that under its wise provisions our government is "by the people, for the people." It will be well for them to feel the significance of the Stars and Stripes as the emblem of Liberty and Union as set forth in the preamble of the Constitution. It will be well for them to realize that our Flag stands for struggle Preface vii and self-sacrifice in the past : that our Constitution stands for peace and safety in the present : and that under our Constitution and our Flag, the Stars and Stripes, the future is bright with promise of national righteousness and the "benign influence of good Laws under a Free Government," the ever favorite object of the heart of George Washington. CHARLES W. STEWART. Superintendent Library and Naval War Records. GEORGE WASHINGTON "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." lix] JOHN PAUL JONES 'He hath made the Flagg of America respectable among the Flaggs of other Nations." ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY, U.S.N. 'You may fire when you're ready, Gridley.' [ xiii] 1777-1795 Thirteen Stripes, Thirteen Stars 1795-1818 Fifteen Stripes, Fifteen Stars 1818 Thirteen Stripes, Twenty Stars July 4, 1912 Thirteen Stripes, Forty-eight Stars THE STARS AND STRIPES FROM WASHINGTON TO WILSON Every man for the Flag, and the Flag for us all. The Stars and Stripes is one of the very old national flags of the world. It was ordained and established June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Congress of the United States of North America, and officially published, September 2 and 3, 1777, by the Secretary of the Congress, Charles Thomson. Among national ensigns the flag of Denmark is probably the oldest ; and that of Russia, second in age. The present national flag of Spain dates from 1785; that of France, from 1789; of England, from 1801 ; of Italy, from 1848 ; of Japan, from 1859 ; of Austria-Hungary, from 1867; of Germany, from 1871; of Portugal, from 1911 ; of China, from 1912. During the life of the Stars and Stripes, one-half of the na- tions of the earth have become republics, and every government has given increased liberty and representation to its people. The world has advanced, particularly during the past fifty years, in the sciences, in the arts, in material prosperity and personal com- fort, as never before. The romantic story of our flag is told at Flag Day exercises held on its anniversary, June 14, in public schools and institutions throughout the United States and its territories and insular pos- sessions. The American Flag Association, organized in 1898. for the purpose of fostering public sentiment in favor of honoring our flag and preventing its desecration, proposed the following pledge to be given in public schools daily, with a salute to the flag:- "I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Country for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." [i] The Stars and Stripes Flag Day was first observed in 1861, at Hartford, Connecticut, by hanging out flags and by having a patriotic program, with music, addresses, arid prayer. The celebration of Flag Day in the public schools began iri Philadelphia, in 1893. A bill in the Congress providing that June 14 should be a legal holiday was voted down on June 13, 1861. Other bills of like tenor have since failed to become law. There is a United States statute forbidding the use of the national ensign as a trade-mark, and many States have adopted laws forbidding its desecration. There is an appropriation for displaying the flag on the east and west fronts of the national Capitol. The flag is hoisted over the Senate or House of Representatives when in session. The Stars and Stripes floats at the flagstaff on the White House dur- ing the hours from 8 A.M. to sunset, while the President is in "Washington. Its absence from the Executive Mansion indicates the absence of the President from the Capital City. The flag is displayed over United States Department buildings and offices, from 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. At all military posts and stations the flag is hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset, with appropriate ceremony. On United States warships in port and at naval sta- tions the colors are hoisted at 8 A.M. and lowered at sunset. The regulations of the army and of the navy direct that "The Star Spangled Banner" be played by the band at morning and evening "colors." or, if there be no band, that "colors" be sounded by the field music, the bugle. The Navy Regulations, issued with the approval of the President* also requires that the "na- tional air" be played at "colors" on ships and at stations where there is a band. In substance and effect this makes "The Star Spangled Banner" the national air. The flag must always be displayed in battle. Naval vessels engaging the enemy hoist the largest ensign on board. February 22 is observed most ceremoniously in the army and navy, by decorations and by firing a national salute of twenty-orie guns at noon. On July 4. at noon, a "salute to the Union," one From Washington to Wilson gun for each State, commemorating the Declaration of Inde- pendence, is fired at all army posts, but in the navy the national salute is fired, on that clay. Other holidays New Year's Day (January 1), Inauguration Day (March 4), Memorial Day (May 30), Labor Day (first Monday in September), Thanksgiving Pay (last Thursday in November), and Christmas Day (Decem- ber 35) are observed, but with less official ceremony than July 4 and February 22. The sun never sets on the Stars and Stripes, for the flag flies from our embassies, legations, and consulates the world over: and from March to September, the sun is above the eastern hori- zon of Maine and Porto Rico, as it sinks below the western horizon of our possessions in the Far East. For seventy years prior to the Revolutionary War, the British- American Colonies flew the red ensign of the mother country. with the union of the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. New England used also a blue flag, with the red cross of St. George on a white canton,* and some of the colonies had special devices added to the red and blue banners. The early American flags of the Revolutionary War were of various colors and many designs, including pine trees, rattle- snakes, thirteen red and white stripes, crescents, mottoes, etc. Some of these flags were used throughout the w r ar. *In a flag, the hoist is the vertical part, dimension, or height of the portion next the staff, pole, or halliards. The fly is the horizontal part, dimension, or length of the flag. The canton (Lat. canton, "corner") is a rectangle in the upper corner next the hoist. The union is the device placed in the canton to denote political union ; and the term "union" some- times includes both the device and the canton, and is generally called the jack, or the union jack. The name "Jack" was first applied to the flag of England the union of England's and Scotland's crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, ordered in 1606, for English and Scotch ships, hy James I, whose name in French is Jacques. The flag was then called "Jacques 1 Flag." and later simply "the Jack." This Jack was adopted by Parliament in 1707, modified in 1801, by the addition of the cross of St. Patrick, and the Jack of the United Kingdom became the flag of the British Empire, as it is to-day. The Stars and Stripes A flag of thirteen horizontal red and white stripes, with the red cross of St. George on a white canton, was the distinguishing mark of flagships in the British Navy in the eighteenth century. A similar flag was flown on vessels of the East India Company. The Light Horse Troop, of Philadelphia, carried, in 1775, the Markoe Banner, with a canton of thirteen stripes alternate blue and silver. Washington's family coat of arms bore red five- pointed stars, one point upward, and red and white horizontal stripes. THE GRAND UNION FLAG, 1776 The Grand Union Flag was the Continental standard from January, 1776, until superseded by the Stars and Stripes in 1777. The Journals of the Continental Congress tell us that Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Lynch of South Carolina, were appointed, in September, 1775, a committee to confer with Washington and others on regulating a Continental army. The committee was in Wash- ington's camp at Cambridge, Massachusetts, late in October, 1775; and, on January 1, 177(5, Washington hoisted at the army headquarters, in Cambridge, a flag of "thirteen stripes, red and From Washington to Wilson white alternately, with the English Union cantoned in the corner." It is probable that this Grand Union Flag had been approved by the visiting committee of Congress, and was the national ensign under which the fleet of Commodore Esek Hopkins sailed from Philadelphia in February, 1776; Arnold fought the Battle of Lake Champlain, in October, 1776, and Washington crossed the Delaware and fought the battles of Trenton, December 26, 1776, and Princeton, January 3, 1777. The Stars and Stripes THE BIRTH OF THE STARS AND STRIPES The Declaration of Independence marked the separation of the Colonies from England and the beginning of a new nation, and demanded a distinctively American standard in place of the half-American, half-British Grand Union Flag. The origin of the new flag, the Stars and Stripes, with thirteen stripes and thirteen stars, is set forth in family traditions ; and in the Rough Journal of the Continental Congress for June 14, 1777, page 243, as follows : Resolved, That the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation. The foe-simile shows that there was first written, ''Resolved That the Flag of the United States consist of ... ," etc. ; then "consist" was struck out ; "be distinguished" was inserted, and "by" was written over "of" ; and finally, "distinguished by" was struck out, leaving the resolution as quoted. The Journal shows that the changes were probably made by reason of dis- cussion in the Congress and were not merely the work of a committee. These official records do not show much sentiment in the creation of the flag. There was no Congressional Record in those clays. We can read only of the results in the Congress and conjecture the discussions. The resolution provides for the number of stars, but not for their arrangement or the number of points in a star. There is a tradition that the stars of the flag were the stars of Washing- ton's family coat of arms, adopted at the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin, and first placed thus : From Washington to Wilson FAC-SIM1LE OF PAGE OF ROUGH JOURNAL OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, JUNE 14, 1777, SHOWING RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE STARS AND STRIPES 8 The Stars and Stripes The stars took the place of the saltire cross ( X ) of St. Andrew and the rectangular cross (-J-) of St. George of the Grand Union Flag. This arrangement of stars has been used in the United States Navy boat-flag for many years and has recently been reaffirmed by Executive Order. The five-pointed star, with one point upward, is an ancient symbol of authority and dominion of India, Persia, and Egypt. It is a sacred symbol in Christian churches, and symbolizes dominion. It has a special significance and interest as a symbol of Freemasonry,- of which order Wash- ington, Franklin, Ross, and nearly all of the signers of the Decla- ration of Independence, were eminent members. AMERICAN FLAG OF REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, ACCORDING TO PEALE AND TRUMBULL Peale and Trumbull have painted the flag of the Revolutionary War period with thirteen five-pointed stars in a circle. The flag of the Third Maryland Regiment, preserved in the State House, Annapolis, Maryland, has in the Union twelve white five-pointed From Washington to Wilson 9 stars in the circumference and one star in the center of a circle. This standard is 32 x 00 inches. It was carried in the Battle of the Cowpens, January 17, 1781. MARYLAND FLAG CARRIED IN THE BATTLE OF THE COWPENS This flag is said to have been made by Betsy Ross in 1780 The flag used by John Paul Jones in the Bonhommc Richard was deposited in the museum of the Alexandria-Washington Lodge F. A. A. M., of which George Washington was Master. This flag was destroyed in 1871, when the Temple and City Hall of Alexandria burned down.* There is a curious old flag now preserved in the rooms of the Grand Lodge F. A. A. M., at Raleigh, N. C., which is the "Stars and Stripes" carried by North Carolina troops at the Battle of Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781. This flag has thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate blue and red, the bottom stripe nearly *See "Washington, the Man and the Mason," by Charles H. Callahan, Washington, 1913, page 311. 10 The Stars and Stripes all torn off. The canton is white, eight stripes high, and the thirteen stars are eight-pointed , blue in color and in nearly quin- cunx grouping. The traditions of the construction of the very first " Stars and Stripes" by Mrs. Elizabeth Ross (popularly called "Betsy Ross") are set forth in reasonable and credible affidavits.* The Society of Patriotic Decorations Civic Improvement, of Washington, D. C., states, in its circulars, that a committee com- posed of General Washington, Robert Morris, and Colonel George Ross (uncle of Betsy Ross' husband), called upon Mrs. Betsy Ross, in June, 1776, and asked her to make a new flag from a rough drawing, which, according to her suggestions, was at once redrawn by General Washington, in her back parlor ; that the house where the flag was made is still standing, a two-story and attic building, No. 239 Arch Street (below Third Street), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The affidavits of Rachel Fletcher, a daughter of Betsy Ross, and of Margaret Boggs, a niece, state, in substance, the foregoing, and explain that a suggestion by Mrs. Ross was the use of the five-pointed, in place of the six-pointed star ; that she showed the committee how to fold a piece of paper so that a proper five- pointed star could be made with one snip of the shears ; and fur- ther, that she made the flag, as redrawn by Washington according to her suggestions, and that the committee carried it to the Con- gress, where it was approved and adopted. Betsy Rossf left to her descendants and to her country the glorious tradition of the honest, skillful, cheerful, energetic, patri- otic woman of the American Revolution, who fashioned and placed in the hands of our first great soldier the Flag of Freedom, our national ensign, the most beautiful flag in the world. *Printed in an accurate and charming volume, "The Evolution of the American Flag," by Lloyd Balderston, Ph.D., Philadelphia, 1909. fEHzabeth Griscom (later, Betsy Ross) was born January 1, 1752; married, November, 1773, John Ross, a Continental soldier, who died of wounds, and was buried in the grounds of Christ Church, Philadelphia, From Washington to Wilson 1 1 THE FLAG OF FIFTEEN STARS The Congress provided, in an Act approved January 13, 1794, that the flag should have fifteen stripes and fifteen stars, as there were, at that time, fifteen States in the Union. Under this fif- teen-starred, fifteen-barred flag the nation's destinies advanced for twenty-three years. During this momentous time, the Navy Department was established, April 30, 1798 ; the Louisiana Pur- chase was consummated, 1803 ; Washington, John Adams, Jeffer- son, Madison, and Monroe served as chief magistrates of the na- tion ; five States were admitted to the Union ; successful war was waged in the Naval War with France ; against the Barbary Pow- ers; in the War of 1812; in the Northwest Indian War, and the Creek Indian \Var. The union of fifteen stars in this flag rested upon the ninth stripe, a red one. Their arrangement is shown, in the original Star Spangled Banner which floated over Fort Mclienry and is now preserved in the National Museum in Washington, to be in five horizontal rows of three stars each. This flag was made in Baltimore by Mrs. Mary Pickersgill and her daughter, Mrs. Caroline T. Purdy. There is a story that the missing white star in this flag was cut out and given to President Lincoln. The Centennial of the Star Spangled Banner will be cele- brated in Baltimore and elsewhere, in 1914, in commemoration of the writing of the anthem by Francis Scott Key at Baltimore, September 14, 1814. January 20, 177(5. She married. June 15, 1777, a sea-captain. John Ash- hurne, who died in Mill Prison, England, March, 1782. On May 8, 178H, she married John Claypoole, Ashburne's prison-mate, who died in 1817. She died at her daughter's home in Philadelphia. January 30, 1836 was buried in the cemetery of the Society of Free Quakers," on ' South Fifth Street, from which place her remains were transferred, in 1857 to Mount Moriah Cemetery. Four of her daughters grew up and married.' Betsy Ross continued the upholstery business of her first husband. She was for fifty years an expert needle woman, lace-maker, and flag-maker, and supplied the government with flags. 12 The Stars and Stripes THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER OF FORT McHENRY 29 ft. high. 32 ft. fly Preserved in the National Museum, Washington, D. C. The commission of Washington as lieutenant-general, in 1798, contains engravings of the flag and of the jack with fourteen six-pointed stars in the circumference of a circle and a fifteenth star in the center thereof. The flag of the U.S.S. Chesapeake, captured June 1, 1813. and now preserved in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution. London, shows the stars as arranged in The Star Spangled Banner of Fort McHenry. From Washington to Wilson 13 APPROXIMATE ARRANGEMENT OF FIFTEEN STARS IN THE FLAG OF THE U.S.S. ENTERPRISE SEPTEMBER 5, 1813 Another navy flag, that of the U.S.S. Enterprise, carried in that ship when she captured H.B.M. Ship Boxer, Septem- ber 5, 1813, shows the stars arranged in three horizontal rows of five stars each. The fly of the union in this flag is one-half the fly of the flag and the hoist of the union is eight stripes. The flag is about \\y 2 x 5 l / 2 feet. 14 The Stars and Stripes THE FLAGS OF TWENTY STARS AND FORTY-EIGHT STARS The Congress, in an Act approved April 4, 1818, re-established the flag of the thirteen stripes and provided that the union be twenty stars, as there were twenty States in the Union at that time. The stars were arranged in four horizontal rows of five stars each, forming a rectangular block. This Act provided fur- ther that on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star should be added to the union of the flag. This is the existing statute under which the union of the flag has increased to forty-eight stars, as the Union has increased to forty-eight States. Representative P. H. Wendover of New York, at the suggestion of Captain Samuel Chester Reid, the famous com- mander of the privateer General Armstrong, proposed the bill which became law, April 4, 1818. The Stars and Stripes can be positively identified at a greater distance than any other national flag. At long distances, with the sun behind the observer, the stripes have a reddish tinge and the union is dark gray; and if the flag is between the sun and the observer, the stripes have a light gray tinge and the union is almost black. In recent years, the Joint Army and Navy Board has proposed the arrangement of the stars in the union, and the Secretaries of War and of the Navy have issued the necessary orders. On June 1, 1912, a board, whose presiding officer was Captain W. F. Halsey, U. S. Navy, representing all the Executive Depart- ments, Navy, Justice, Agriculture, War, State, Interior, Post Office, Treasury, and Commerce and Labor, met in the Library of the Navy Department and proposed standard sizes and pro- portions for the national ensign, as there were at that time some sixty-six different sizes of the national flag, and of varying pro- portions, in use by the Executive Departments. In Executive Order No. 1C37, dated October 29, 1912, printed below, the size and proportions of the flag are defined substantially as proposed by the inter-department board, June 4, 1912. From Washington to Wilson 15 FLAG OF 1912 The Stars and Stripes, from 1777 to 1795, bore thirteen stars and thirteen stripes; from 1795 to 1818, fifteen stars and fifteen stripes ; from 1818 to 1913, a star for every State and thirteen stripes. There were thirteen stars in the flag at the time of the Revolutionary War and the adoption of the Constitution ; fifteen stars in the War of 1812 and in the War with the Barbery Pow- ers; twenty-nine in the Mexican War; thirty-five in the Civil War; forty-five in the Spanish- American War. Our flag has always flown for the freedom of men and the freedom of the sea. Since it was first saluted, February 14, 1778, by a foreign power, in Quiberon Bay, France, borne by our first great sailor, John Paul Jones, on the U.S.S. Ranger, it has carried a message of hope to all humanity. Its red denotes cour- age ; its white, purity ; its blue, loyalty and devotion ; its stars, high aspiration and federal union. The Stars and Stripes is the sign of national sovereignty and unity. It is the symbol of the Constitution, as the Cross is the symbol of Christianity. We have enjoyed so many blessings and privileges that some may have forgotten that these blessings are derived from the provisions of the Constitution, which give us political and re- ligious liberty and freedom of speech and press. 16 The Stars and Stripes The Constitution is the plan of government of the United States, and every citizen is bound to support it against all ene- mies whatsoever. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Nowhere else in the world is presented a government of so much liberty and equality. An immigrant may attain any federal office in the United States, legislative, executive, or judicial, excepting only two, those of President and Vice-President. Our laws. National and State, are based on the Constitution, and the flag is the symbol, not only of the National Constitution, but of every State Constitution. The flag is the Constitution. George Washington was the chief officer engaged in the crea- tion of the Stars and Stripes ; the chief and presiding officer in the creation of the Constitution. He was "First in war. first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," and the Consti- tution and the Stars and Stripes, which he in large part created and established, receive our respect and devotion in like high degree. From Washington to Wilson 17 DIMENSIONS OF THE NATIONAL FLAG The following Executive Order defines the dimensions of the National Flag. EXECUTIVE ORDER, 1637, OCTOBER 2!), 1912. The Executive Order of June 24, 1912, is hereby revoked, and for it is substituted the following : Whereas, "An Act to Establish the Flag of the United States," approved on the 4th of April, 1818, reading as follows: "SECTiox 1. Be it enacted, etc.. That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizonal stripes, alternate red and white ; that the union have twenty stars, white in a blue field. "SECTION 2. Be it further enacted, That on the admission of every new- State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag: and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July next succeeding such admission." fails to establish proportions; and Whereas, investigation shows some sixty-six different sizes of National flags, and of varying proportions, in use in the Executive Departments ; It is hereby ordered that National Flags and Union Jacks for all De- partments of the Government, with the exception noted under (a), shall conform to the following proportions: Fly (length ) of Flag 1.9 Hoist (width) of Flag I Hoist (width ) of Union , 7 3 Fly (length ) of Union 7t> Width of each stripe ^ (a) Exception: The colors carried by troops, and camp colors, shall be the sizes prescribed for the Military Service (Army and Navy). Limitation of the number of sizes: With exception of colors under note (a), the sizes of flags manufactured or purchased for Government Departments will be limited to those with the following hoists: (1) 20.00 feet (7) 5.14 feet (2) (standard ) 19.00 feet (8 ) 3.00 feet (3) 14.:53 feet (9 ) :5.:>2 feet (4) 12.19 feet (10) 2.90 feet (5) 10.00 feet (11) 2.37 feet (6) 8.94 feet (12) l.:il feet Union Jacks: The size of the Jack shall be the size of the Union of the National Flag with which it is flown. 18 The Stars and Stripes Position and Size of Stars: The position and size of each star for the Union of the flag shall be as indicated on a plan which will be furnished to the Departments by the Navy Department. From this plan can be determined the location and size of stars for flags of any dimensions. Extra blueprints of this plan will be furnished upon application to the Navy Department. Order effective: All National Flags and Union Jacks now on hand or for which contracts have been awarded shall be continued in use until unserviceable, but all those manufactured or purchased for Government use after the date of this order shall conform strictly to the dimensions and proportions herein prescribed. Boat Flags: In order that the identity of the stars in flags when car- ried by small boats belonging to the Government may be preserved, the custom holding in the Navy for many years, of thirteen (13) stars for boat flags, is hereby approved. President's Flag: The color of the field of the President's flag shall be blue. WM. H. TAFT. STANDARD PROPORTIONS OF NATIONAL ENSIGN The following table gives the standard proportions for all parts of the standard national ensign. The actual dimension of any part of the flag is obtained by multiplying the hoist by the pro- portion given in the table. Thus, in ensign No. 1, with hoist of 20 feet, the diameter (J) of the star is 20x0.0616=1.23-2 feet. This table furnishes a ready means of preparing the dimensions for ensign Nos. 1, 5, and 8, omitted in the table accompanying the outline plan. The dimensions of the four sizes of boat flags are given with plan of the boat flag. (See plans, p. 25.) Standard Proportions. A 1.0000 G 0.0950 B 1.9000 H 0.0447 C 0.0475 I 0.0897 D 0.4615 J 0.0616 E 0.5384 K 0.0769 F . . 0.7600 v TTXV jfvy-ff azxramuo & si 4 1 ^JOJl! HTWjf TOg ^-tt i! i i n o g D a > tn u a 17274 i K u j 4 8 ro m S * Q - n i N ifl * h U) 7 u . m IT N N ? ?s rt N 10 8 X "* : S * * - S f? eoaz'i Cl i M X e '- i .3999 .2209 S a ! M I I i r - o a ^ >< 4 8 r S - # C |T h * y N N 4 * h L) 6 * Z -InJ R H^-H ^^ ^-^k ^x-^- ft ft ft-ft- ft ft ft ft ft-ft- ft ft ft ft -!- 20 The Stars and Stripes DATES OF ADMISSION OF THE STATES TO THE UNION A new star is added to the Flag on the Fourth of July following the date of admission of a State. The thirteen original States ( represented by the red and white stripes on the flag) were : New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The following table gives the dates of ratification of the Con- stitution by the original thirteen States, and the dates of admis- sion into the Union of the thirty-five additional States : ""I. Delaware Dec. 7, 1787 J^25. Arkansas June 15, 1836 2. Pennsylvania Dec. 12,1787 26. Michigan Jan. 26, 18:57 3. New Jersey Dec. 18, 1787 g 27. Florida Mar. 3, 1845 ! 4. Georgia Jan. 2, 1788 28. Texas Dec. 29, 1845 L-5. Connecticut Jan. 9, 1788 29. Iowa Dec. 28, 1846 6. Massachusetts Feb. 7, 1788 30. Wisconsin May 29, 1848 7. Maryland .April 28, 1788 uJ31. California Sept. 9, 1850 8. South Carolina. . .May 2:5, 1788 32. Minnesota May 11. 1858 9. New Hampshire.. June 21, 1788 33. Oregon Feb. 14, 1859 10. Virginia June 26, 1788 34. Kansas Jan. 29, 1861 11. New York July 26, 1788 35. West Virginia... . June 19, 1863 12. North Carolina.. .Nov. 21, 1789 36. Nevada Oct. 31, 1864 13. Rhode Island May 29. 1790 37. Nebraska Mar. 1, 1867 14. Vermont Mar. 4, 1791 3" 38. Colorado Aug. 1, 1876 15. Kentucky June 1. 1792 39. North Dakota Nov. 2. 1889 16. Tennessee June 1/1790 40. South Dakota Nov. 2, 1889 17. Ohio Nov. 29, 1802 41. Montana Nov. 8, 1889 18. Louisiana Apr. 30, 1812 42. Washington Nov. 11, 1889 19. Indiana Dec. 11, 1816 '.43. Idaho July 3, 1890 20. Mississippi Dec. 10, 1817 44. Wyoming July 10, 1890 21. Illinois Dec. 3, 1818 45. Utah Jan. 4, 1896 22. Alabama Dec. 14, 1819 46. Oklahoma Nov. 16, 1907 23. Maine Mar. 15, 1820 /)^7. Arizona Jan. 6, 1912 24. Missouri Aug. 10, 1821 48. New Mexico Feb. 14, 1912 From Washington to Wilson 21 THE DISPLAY OF THE FLAG The following information regarding the display of the Stars and Stripes is an extract from Flag Circular No. 4, issued by the Society of Patriotic Decorations and Civic Improvement, Wash- ington, D. C.* Holidays when the Flag should be displayed. Lincoln's Birthday February 12 Washington's Birthday February 22 Inauguration Day March 4 Battle of Lexington April 19 Battle of Manila Bay (half staff until noon) May 1 Mother's Day 2d Sunday in May Memorial Day (half staff until noon) May 30 Flag Day June 14 Battle of Bunker Hill June 17 Independence Day July 4 Labor Day First Monday in September Lake Erie Day September 10 Lake Champlain Day September 11 John Paul Jones Day September 23 Battle of Saratoga October 17 Surrender at Yorktown October 19 On Memorial Day, May 30, the Flag should fly at half staff from sunrise to noon and full staff from noon to sunset. It should first be raised to full staff, then lowered for forenoon and even- ing. The Flag should not be hoisted before sunrise nor be allowed to remain up after sunset. At "Morning and Evening Colors," civilian spectators should stand at "attention'' and uncover during the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner." Military spectators are required by Regu- lations to stand at "attention" and give the military salute. The Flag should never be allowed to touch the ground and should never be raised or lowered by any mechanical appliance. When the National and State, or other flags fly together, the National Flag should be on the right. *Mr. Frederick D. Owen is President of this Society. 22 The Stars and Stripes When the Flag is flown at half staff as a sign of mourning, it should be hoisted to full staff at the conclusion of the funeral. The Salute to the Union, fired at Army posts at noon. July 4, is one gun for every State. The National Salute is 21 guns. Whenever possible the Flag should be flown from a staff or mast, but should not be fastened to the side of a building, plat- form, or scaffolding. It should not be used as a cover over a table, desk, or box, or where anything can be set or placed upon the Flag. When the Flag is used as a banner, the union should fly to the north in streets running east and west and to the east on streets running north and south. \Vhen flags are used in unveiling a statue or monument, they should not be allowed to fall to the ground, but should be carried aloft to wave out, forming a distinctive feature during the re- mainder of the ceremony.* MOTHER'S DAY The Joint Resolution of the <>:5d Congress designating the sec- ond Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes is as follows: WHEREAS, The service rendered the United States by the American mother is the greatest source of the country's strength and inspiration ; and WHEREAS, We honor ourselves and the mothers of America when we do anything to give emphasis to the home as the fountain head of the vState ; and WHEREAS, The American mother is doing so much for the home, the moral uplift and religion, hence so much for good government and humanity : Therefore be it Resoh'cd by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the Government officials to display the United States flag on all Government buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places, on the second *First used at national unveiling ceremonies by Frederick D. Owen. From Washington to Wilson 23 Sunday in May. as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country. SEC, 2. That the second Sunday in May shall hereafter be designated and known as Mother's Day. and it shall be the duty of the President to request its observance as provided for in this resolution. Approved, May 8, 1914. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, By a Joint Resolution approved May 8, 1914, "desig- nating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. and for other purposes," the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public ex- pression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country ; AND WHEREAS, By the said Joint Resolution it is made the duty of the President to request the observance of the second Sunday in May as provided for in the said Joint Resolution ; Xo\v. Therefore, I, WOODROW WILSOX, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said Joint Resolution, do hereby direct the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country. Ix WITXESS WHEREOF T have set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. DoxE at the City of Washington this ninth day of May, [SEAL.] in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States one hundred and thirty-eight. WOODROW WILSOX By the President : WILLIAM JKNNINGS BRVAX Secretary of State. 24 The Stars and Stripes BOOKS AND LECTURES ON THE FLAG There are many valuable and interesting books relating to our Flag : "Origin and Progress of the Flag," by Preble ; "The Stars and Stripes and Other American Flags," by Harrison ; "Evolution of the American Flag," by Canby and Balderston ; "Regimental Colors in the War of the Revolution, and Colors of the Army, 1789-1912," by Gherardi Davis; "Our Country's Flag," by Holden; "Our Nation's Flag in History," by Smith ; and "The American Flag," by Harlan Homer Hoyt, are a few of the larger books. The volume by Preble is authoritative and covers the widest field. Miss Frances M. Richardson, "The Flag Lady," residing at 1008 West Fourth Street, Los Angeles, California, has reproduced fifty of the flags used in America and presents them in her stirring patriotic lecture, "The Growth and Triumphs of the American Flag." Mr. R. C. Ballard Thruston, of Louisville, Ky., President-General of the Sons of the American Revolution, has prepared the MSS. and col- lected the illustrations for a history of the American Flag that contains much information never before published. Mr. Thruston has given many addresses on the Flag, illuminated with actual flags, which are worthy of this past master of history and diction, and he has given permission to the writer to thus use his name on condition that such use be accompanied by the statement that admission to his lectures and addresses must be absolutely free. [25J 26 The Stars and Stripes TO CUT A FIVE-POINTED STAR WITH ONE STRAIGHT CUT To cut a five-pointed star with one straight snip of the shears, take a piece of paper about 8 inches wide and 10 inches long. Fold at center on horizontal line, laying the lower edge of sheet at top of sheet. From the center O draw lines OB, OC, OD, forming five sectors of 36 each (Figure 1). O T Fig-. 1 Fijr. 2 Fold at line OD, lay edge OF on line OB, press smooth the fold OD, and the result is Figure 2. Fold Figure 2 at line OB, lay edge OA on line OC. The result is Figure 3. Fold Figure 3 at line OC, lay edge OD on edge OB, and smooth the fold OC. The result is Figure 4. Fiir.3 Fin. 4 Fig. 5 Cut vertically XV, choosing point X so that OX is equal to OA. OY will be about one-third of OX. From Washington to Wilson 27 Open the portion XYO, and there appears the half star (Figure 6). Open this folded half star, and the five-pointed star appears (Figure 7). This star is of the dimensions of a star inscribed in a circle of radius OA. Fig. 7 It is a curious fact that the side of the star is very near 1.9 times the radius of the circle and 1.9 is the proportion of the length to the height of the national ensign required by Executive Order, 1637. The lines in Figure 1 may at first be laid off by a protractor. Practice will soon enable one to fold the paper properly without drawing any lines. SONGS AND BUGLE CALLS AMERICA Dr. S. F. SMITH, 1832. 1 My coun - try ! 'tis of thee, Sweet land of lib - er - ty, 2. My na - live coun try, thee Land of the no - ble free- 3 Let inu - sic swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees 4. Our fa - thors 1 God ! to Thee, Au - thor of lib - er - ty, Of thee I sing ; Land where my fa - thers died ! Land of the Thy name I love ; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and Sweet free - dom's song ; Let mor - tal tongues a - wake ; Let all that. To Thee we sing : Long may our land. be bright With free - dom's -^ *~^ ji \t ' 2 d Pil - grims' pride 1 From ev - 'ry tern - pled hills : My heart with breathe par - take ; Let rocks their ho - ly light ; Pro - tect us moun - tain, side Let free - dom' ring I rap - ture thrills Like. that a - bove. si - lence break, The sound pro - long, by Thy might, Great God, our King! [29] 30 The Stars and Stripes THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, 1814. BL 1. Oh, say, caa you see, by the dawn's ear - ly light, What so proud - ly we 2. On that shore dim -ly seen thro' the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haugh-ty 3. And where ie that band, who so vaunt - ing - ly swore, That the hav - oc of hailed at the twi -light's last gleam-ing? Wlrose broad stripes and bright stars thro' the host in dread si - lence re - pos - es. What is that which the breeze, o'e~ the war and the bat - tie's con - fu - sion A home and a coun - try should per - il - ous fight, O'er the ram-parts we watched were so gal - lant - ly stream-ing ! tow - er - ing steep. As it fit - ful - ly blows, now con - ceals,now dis - clos - es ? leave us no more ? Their blood has washed out their foul foot-steps' pol - lu - tion. And the rock - et's red glare, the bombs burst-ing in air, Gave proof thro' the Now it. catch - es the gleam of the morn - ing's first beam, In full glo - ry re - No ref - uge could save the hire - ling and slave From ter - ror of From Washington to Wilson 31 $=* ^ B 35 night that our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that star - span - gled fleet - ed now shines on the stream ; 'Tis the star-span - gled ban - ner, oh 1 flight or the gloom of the grave; And the star-span - gled ban - ner in ban - ner . yet long may it tri - umph doth =F O'er the land of O'er the land of O'er the land of the the the free and the home free and the home free and the home of the brave I of the brave ! of the brave I 4 Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation ! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust ; " And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 32 The Stars and Stripes THE AMERICAN FLAG EPH RODMAN DRAKE, 1796-1820. Melody from BKLUKI. s 1. When Free-dom from her moon - tain height Un-furl'd her stand -ard to the 2. Ma-jes - tic mon - arch of the cloud ! Who rear'st a - loft thy re - gal 3. Flag of the brave ! thy folds shall fly, The Bign of hope - and tri - umph 4. Flag of the seas! on o -. cean's wave Thy stare shall glit - ter- o'er the air, . . She. tore the az - ure robe of night, And set the form, . To hear . the temp - est trump - ing loud, And see the high ! . When speaks the sig - nal truni - pet's tone, And the long brave,. When death, ca - reer - ing on the gale, Sweeps dark - ly stars . . of glo - ry there ! She min - gled with its gor - geous dies The light - ning Ian - ces driven, When strides the war - rior of the storm, And line . . . conies gleaming on ; Ere yet the life - blood, warm and wet, Has round . . the bel - lied sail : And fright - ed waves rush wild - ly back ; Be 3 FT * > , *- =(S milk -y bald - rick of the skies, And striped its pure ce - les - tial white, With rolls the thun - der drum of heav'n ! Child of the sun ! to thee 'tis giv'n To diimn'd the glistn'ing bay - o - net Each sol - dier'seye shall bright - ly turn To fore the "broad-side's reel - ing rack ; The dy - ing wan-d'rer of the sea Shall =*= streak - ings from the morn - ing light ! ' Then, from her man - sion guard the ban - ner of the free t To hov - er in the where thy me - teor glo - ries burn. Flag of the free heart's look at once to heav'n and thee. For - ev - er float that in the sun, She call'd her ea - gle bear - er down, . sul - phur smoke, To ward a - way * the bat - tie stroke, . hope and home, By an - gel hands to val - or given ! . stand - ard sheet ! Where breathes the foe but falls be - fore us, And gave in - to his might - y hand The sym - bol of . . her chos - en land. And bid its blend - ings shine a - far Like rain-bows on . . the clouds of war. Thy stars have lit the wel - kin dome And all thy hues . were born in heaven. With free-dom's soil be-neath our* feet, And free-dom's ban - ner streaming o'er us. From Washington to Wilson 33 O COLUMBIA! THE GEM OF THE OCEAN Written and composed by THOMAS a SECRET, ST., in 1843, for DAVID T. SHAW, Actor. With lofty expression. 1. O Co - lum - bia ! the gem of the o-cean, 2. When war wag'd its wide des - o - la - tion, 3. The wine cup, the wine cup bring hith-er, The home of the brave and the And threat-en'd the land to de - And fill ye it up to the free, form, brim ; 'The shrine of each pa - triot's de - vp - tion, A The ark then of free - dom's foun -da - tion, Co May the mem - 'ry of Washing-ton ne'er with - er, Nor the 1~^ -isri 1-*-*~ world of - fers horn - age lum - bia rode safe thro' star of his glo - ry to thee; Thy man - dates make he - roes as - the storm ; With her gar - lands of vie - to - ry grow dim ! May the ser - vice u - nit - ed ne'er sem - ble, When Lib - er - ty's form stands in view, * * *^\ Thy o'er .her, When so proud - ly she bore her brave crew, With her sev - er, And each to our col ors prove true ! The nH* f rt\ IH KTT J * . 1 N is -r-i 1 1 \ b" U t U- mm ban-ners make tyr - an - ny trem-ble, flag proud - ly float - ing be - fore her, Ar-my and, ~Na - vy for- ev - er ! When borne by the red, white,and blue. The boast of the red, white, and blue. Three cheers for the red, white,and blue. CHORUS. When borne by the red,white,and blue, The boast of the red,white,and. blue, Three cheers for the red,white,and blue, When borne by the red,white,and blue ; The boast of the red,white,and blue ; Three cheers for the red,white,and blue ; Thy ban-ners make tyr - an - uy tremble, Witli her flag proudly float-ing be -'fore her, The Ar-my and Na - vy for - ev - er, When borne by the red,white,and blue. The boast of the red,white,and blue. Three cheers for the red.white.and blue. 34 The Stars and Stripes REVEILLE Quick. >-4-- -t- M ! -*-= *- FINK. 3GIZZPE -*-= 1- ~ f w *& -?-?-?-?- H 1 1 h- MORNING COLORS TAPS Stow. E^^J!r^rr- ' - Jt -Hf n rur: II From Washington to Wilson 35 EVENING COLORS Moderate. 113 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482