The Little Book of the Flag Part 5

FLAG ANNIVERSARIES

January 1-2, 1776: Grand Union Flag (British Union and thirteen stripes) hoisted over Washington's headquarters at Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts. This was the first real flag of the colonies.

January 13, 1794: American flag changed by act of Congress, owing to two new States (Kentucky and Vermont) being admitted to the Union. The flag now had two stars and two stripes added to it, making fifteen stripes and stars. This was the "Star-Spangled Banner," and under this flag our country fought and won three wars--the so-called naval war with France, in 1798-1800; that with the Barbary States in 1801-1805; and that with England in 1812-1815.

February 3, 1783: First appearance of the American flag in a British port by the ship Bedford, of Ma.s.sachusetts, which arrived in the river Thames on this date.

February 8, 1776: Colonial Congressional Committee accepted a naval flag, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a rattlesnake diagonally across it.

February 14, 1778: First foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes.

John Paul Jones entered Quiberon Bay, near Brest, France, and received a salute of nine guns from the French fleet, under Admiral La Motte Piquet. Jones had previously saluted the French fleet with thirteen guns.

March 17, 1776: The first display of the Grand Union Flag in Boston was on the day that town was evacuated by the British.

April 4, 1818: Congress by act decreed a return to the original thirteen stripes and a star for every State in the Union, to be added to the flag on the July 4 following a State's admission to the Union. This is the present law in relation to the flag.

April 24, 1778: John Paul Jones achieved the honor of being the first officer of the American Navy to compel a regular British man-of-war to strike her colors to the new flag.

June 14, 1777: First strictly American flag decreed by Congress.

This flag displaced the British Union by thirteen stars, and the making of the first flag of this design is accredited to Betsy Ross of Philadelphia. It contained thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and thirteen white stars upon a blue field.

June 14, 1777: Captain John Paul Jones appointed to the command of the Ranger. It was Jones who first displayed the Stars and Stripes on a naval vessel. It was also he who had previously first hoisted "the flag of America" on board the naval vessel Alfred in 1775.

June 28, 1778: First appearance on a foreign strong-hold at Na.s.sau, Bahama Islands. The Americans captured Fort Na.s.sau from the British, and promptly raised the Stars and Stripes.

August 3, 1777: First display of the Stars and Stripes on land was over Fort Stanwix, New York.

August 10, 1831: The name "Old Glory" given to our national flag by Captain William Driver, of the brig Charles Doggert. The flag was presented to the captain and contained one hundred and ten yards of bunting. It is said to be now in the Ess.e.x Inst.i.tute, at Salem, Ma.s.sachusetts.

September 11, 1777: The American flag first carried in battle at the Brandywine. This was the first great battle fought after its adoption by the Continental Congress.

September 13, 1784: The Stars and Stripes first displayed in China by Captain John Green, of the ship Empress, in Canton River. The natives said it was as beautiful as a flower, and the Chinese continued to call it the "flower flag" for many years.

September 30, 1787-August 10, 1790: The American flag completed its first trip around the world, borne by the ship Columbia, sailing from Boston.

October 18, 1867: First official display of the American flag in Alaska. On this day, at Sitka, the capital, the Russian flag was hauled down and the American flag run up before the barracks and in the presence of both Russian and American troops.

SELECTIONS

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the sh.o.r.e, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,-- 'Tis the star-spangled banner; Oh! long may it wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave; And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

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 G.o.d 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!

THE FLAG IN THE DARKNESS

BENJAMIN HARRISON

I was never so profoundly touched with the beauty of our flag as at night time in one of our immense political demonstrations. One of the features of the occasion was the sending upward of a mighty stream of electric light which, piercing the darkness of the night, reached a large flag which had been carried on cords a thousand feet from the earth. The scene was too impressive for me to describe. I can only say that it did seem as though the flag of our country was waving from the very battlements of heaven.... G.o.d pity the American citizen who does not love the flag; who does not see in it the story of our great, free inst.i.tutions, and the hope of the home as well as the Nation.

A SONG FOR FLAG DAY

WILBUR D. NESBIT

Your Flag and my Flag!

And how it flies to-day In your land and my land And half a world away!

Rose-red and blood-red The stripes forever gleam; Snow-white and soul-white-- The good forefathers' dream; Sky-blue and true blue, with stars to gleam aright-- The gloried guidon of the day; a shelter through 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, 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!

Your Flag and my Flag!

To every star and stripe The drums beat as hearts beat And fifers shrilly pipe!

Your Flag and my Flag-- A blessing in the sky; Your hope and my hope-- It never hid a lie!

Home land and far land and half the world around, Old Glory hears our glad salute and ripples to the sound.

THE FLAG GOES BY

HENRY HOLCOMB BENNETT

Hats off!

Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, A flash of color beneath the sky: Hats off!

The flag is pa.s.sing by!