a nation’s flag represents its sovereignty. it is adopted by its supreme authority as a symbol or sign of itself, and wherever it waves the fact of the substantial control of that authority, at that point, is thereby asserted. if there is a struggle between two powers for control, the presence of the flag proves that the authority it represents still maintains itself, and its subjugation is declared by lowering its flag and by the substitution of another in its place.
the flag is, therefore, an expression to the eye of the condition of things; and attracts the sympathies and antipathies, the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears of those interested in the sovereignty it represents. it is the rallying point of sentiment and of energy. the affection and reverence bestowed on our country will light up into a patriotic flame at sight of its flag. it is associated with all the heroic deeds and achievements that adorn our national history, and with the loss of all[583] those we honored and loved who followed and fought for it, and gave their lives in its defense. our “star spangled banner” has been a thousand times baptized in blood dearer to us than our own, and the sight of it recalls all these sacrifices so cheerfully made to establish or to preserve our institutions. the flag of the united states may well call forth more enthusiastic affection, pride, and hope than any other in the world; for it symbolizes not only home, country, and associations dear to americans, but the justice, liberty, and right of self government that are dear to all mankind. humanity at large has a deep interest in it.
its history is this: soon after the declaration of independence the continental congress appointed a committee to confer with gen. washington and “design a suitable flag for the nation.” after the painful and depressing defeat on long island, the retreat through the jerseys and across the delaware, when everything seemed lost for the new government, washington suddenly struck the vigorous blows at trenton and princeton that confounded the enemy and drove him back to staten island. congress and the country were cheered with a hope and a resolution that never afterwards failed them; for in the next campaign occurred the capture of burgoyne, followed by the treaty with france; and the close of the war in our favor was henceforth only a question of time.
in the month of may or early june, 1777, following the staggering blow washington had given the british army in jersey, the committee referred to above, and washington, completed the design for a flag. this was accomplished and the first flag made at the house of a mrs. ross, in arch st., philadelphia. the house is still standing—no. 239. she had a shop where she followed the “upholder” trade, as it was then called—the same as our upholstering. one day the commander-in-chief, hon. geo. ross, a relative of hers, and certain members of congress, called on her, with a design for a flag—thirteen red and white stripes, alternate with thirteen six pointed stars—and requested her to make the flag. she consented[584] but suggested that the stars would be more symmetrical and more pleasing to the eye if made with five points, and folded a sheet of paper and produced the pattern by a single cut. this was approved and she finished a flag the next day. mrs. ross was given the position of manufacturer of flags for the government, which descended to her children.
this was the flag that led our armies to victory during the remainder of the war, waved over the crestfallen soldiers of burgoyne and cornwallis, and at the mast head of john paul jones on the english coast. in 1794 this flag was changed, though its chief features were retained. congress then ordered that the flag should consist of fifteen stripes, alternate red and white, and fifteen stars, white on a blue field. there were then fifteen states. the stars and stripes were equal, and a stripe and a star were added with the advent of each new state. this was changed in 1818, as the states increased and the flag threatened to become too large, by reducing the stripes to thirteen, representing the original union, and the stars were made equal to the number of states. no change has since been made except to add a star whenever the union increased by the admission of a state.
“the star spangled banner,” a stirring patriotic song which is to americans what the “marseillaise” is to the french, was composed by the author during the cannonade of fort mchenry, near baltimore, by the british fleet co-operating with an army which was to attack it, simultaneously with the fall of the fort, by land, sept. 13th, 1814. the poet had gone on board the fleet under a flag of truce before the attack began, to negotiate about some prisoners, and was obliged to remain until the next day, the cannonade continuing during the night. if the fort surrendered baltimore would be taken; and the fate of washington, pillaged and burned a few days before, filled the people with the anxiety which is expressed by the poet, to know if the flag still waved in the morning “over the land of the free and the home of the brave.” the joy of all america may be conceived when admiral cockrane drew off his fleet[585] and took the british army on board, while the “stars and stripes” continued to float gaily on the breeze over fort mchenry.
