Chapter III: Part 3

Compare Fig. 6, Plate II., the Flag of the United States, as first presented under the resolution of June 14, 1777, with Fig. 1, Plate III., the flag as we suppose it to have been proposed when Mr. John Adams was chairman of the Board of War, and both of the above with the vignette to the title-page, the device introduced into the passport in _lieu_ of the arms of the United States, by Mr. John Q. Adams, when Secretary of State.

In making these comparisons, the eagle, only adopted for the arms of the United States in 1782, must be kept out of view, or rather considered as having no part in the question about the stars.

In the preceding pages, we have established the origin of the part of the flag called "the union," also that of the circle of stars as an emblem for that union, together with that of the stripes, as clearly as analogy will enable us so to do. As corroborating the views we have advanced, we now present to the reader the reports on the adoption of the arms of the United States, copied by permission from unpublished records of the State Department, from which it appears that certain of those who prepared the devices for the Flag of the United States, were also engaged in the preparation of the device for a Great Seal.

"JOURNALS OF CONGRESS."

"1776--_page_ 248.

"_July 4._ Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams, and Mr. Jefferson, be a
committee to prepare a device for a Great Seal for the United
States of America.

"1776--_page_ 321.

"_Aug. 10._ The Committee appointed to prepare the Device for a
Great Seal for the United States brought in the same, with an
explanation thereof; ordered to lie on the table.

"No. 1. _Copy of a Report made Aug. 10, 1776._

"The Great Seal should on one side have the arms of the United
States of America, which arms should be as follows:--

"The shield has six quarters, parts one, _coupe_ two. The 1st or, a
rose, enamelled gules and argent for England; the 2d argent, a
thistle proper, for Scotland; the 3d verd, a harp or, for Ireland;
the 4th azure a _flower-de-luce_ or, for France; the 5th or, the
imperial eagle, sable, for Germany; and the 6th or, the Belgic
lion, gules for Holland, pointing out the countries from which the
States have been peopled. The shield within a border gules entwined
of thirteen scutcheons argent, linked together by a chain or, each
charged with initial letters sable as follows: 1st, N.H.; 2d, M.B.;
3d, R.I.; 4th, C.; 5th, N.Y.; 6th, N.J.; 7th, P.; 8th, D.E.; 9th,
M.; 10th, V.; 11th, N.C.; 12th, S.C.; 13th, G., for each of the
thirteen independent States of America.

"Supporters dexter the Goddess Liberty, in a corselet of armor,
alluding to the present times; holding in her right hand the spear
and cap, and with her left supporting the shield of the States,
sinister, the Goddess Justice, bearing a sword in her right hand,
and in her left a balance.

"Crest. The eye of Providence in a radiant triangle, whose glory
extends over the shield and beyond the figures. Motto: _E. Pluribus
Unum_.

"Legend round the whole achievement. Seal of the United States of
America, MDCCLXXVI.

"On the other side of the said Great Seal should be the following
device:--

"Pharaoh sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a
sword in his hand, passing through the divided waters of the Red
Sea in pursuit of the Israelites. Rays, from a pillar of fire in
the cloud, expressive of the Divine presence and command, beaming
on Moses, who stands on the shore, and, extending his hand over the
sea, causes it to overthrow Pharaoh. Motto: _Rebellion to tyrants
is obedience to God_."

In regard to this Report, we observe Mr. John Adams was one of those engaged in preparing it. The emblems to represent countries were the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the harp for Ireland, &c. May not this train of ideas have suggested to his mind the lyre and its corresponding constellation to mark the Union of the United States of America in the flag of those States?

We observe the reference to the Sacred Volume in the device for the reverse of the proposed Seal. May not the idea of stars, as the representatives of dependent States, have been borrowed from the same source, and applied in the case of the flag as States dependent upon union, and thus constituting a constellation?

"_March 25, 1779_--_page_ 101.

"_Ordered_, that the Report of the Committee on the Device of
a Great Seal for the United States, in Congress assembled, be
referred to a committee of three--Lovell, Scott, Houston."

This Committee made a Report, May 10. _Vide No. 2._

"Original Report of May 10, 1779. No. 2."

"The seal to be four inches in diameter.

"On one side, the arms of the United States, as follows: The shield
charged on the field, with thirteen diagonal stripes, alternate red
and white. Supporters dexter, a warrior holding a sword; sinister,
a figure representing Peace, bearing an olive-branch. The crest, a
radiant constellation of thirteen stars. The motto: _Bello vel
pace_. The legend round the achievement, _Seal of the United
States_.

"On the reverse: The figure of Liberty, seated in a chair, holding
the staff and cap. The motto: _Semper_. Underneath, MDCCLXXVI."

"_May 17, 1779_--_page_ 149.

"The Report of the Committee on the Device of a Great Seal was
taken into consideration, and, after debate,

"Ordered that it be recommitted."

"Report No. 2, on the Great Seal, as altered after recommitment.

"The Committee to whom was referred, on the 25th of March last, the
report of a former committee on the Device of a Great Seal of the
United States, in Congress assembled, beg leave to report the
following description:--

"The Seal to be three inches in diameter.

"On one side, the arms of the United States, as follows: The shield
charged in the field azure, with thirteen diagonal stripes,
alternate rouge and argent, supporters; dexter, a warrior holding
a sword; sinister, a figure representing Peace, bearing the
olive-branch. The crest, a radiant constellation of thirteen stars.
The motto. _Bello vel pace_. The legend round the achievement, _The
Great Seal of the United States_.

"On the reverse: The figure of Liberty, seated in a chair, holding
the staff and cap. The motto: _Virtute perennis_. Underneath,
MDCCLXXVI.

"A drawing of the Seal is annexed. No. 3, May 10, 1780.

"A miniature of the face of the Great Seal to be prepared, of half
the diameter, to be affixed as the less Seal of the United States."

We have not thought it worth while to present the drawing above referred to.

"_Device for an Armorial Atchievement for the United States of
North America, blazoned agreeably to the laws of Heraldry, proposed
by Mr. Barton, A.M._

"ARMS.--Paleways of [60]thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief
azure: the escutcheon placed on the breast of an American (the
bald-headed) eagle, displayed proper; holding in his beak a scroll,
inscribed with the motto, viz.:--

'_E Pluribus Unum_'--

and in his dexter talon a palm or an olive-branch; in the other a
bundle of thirteen arrows; all proper.

[60] "As the pales or pallets consist of an uneven number,
they ought in strictness to be blazoned--Argt. 6 pallets
gules; but as the thirteen pieces allude to the thirteen
States, they are blazoned according to the number of
_pieces paleways_."

"FOR THE CREST.--Over the head of the eagle, which appears
above the escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud,
proper, and surrounding thirteen stars forming a constellation,
argent on an azure field.

"In the exergue of the Great Seal--

"Jul. IV. MDCCLXXVI."

"In the margin of the same--

"_Sigil. Mag. Reipub. Confoed. Americ._"

"_Remarks._--The escutcheon is composed of the chief and pale, the
two most honorable ordinaries; the latter represent the several
States, all joined in one solid compact entire, supporting a chief,
which unites the whole and represents Congress. The motto alludes
to the Union. The colors or tinctures of the pales are those used
in the Flag of the United States. White, signifies purity,
innocence; red, hardiness and valor. The chief denotes Congress.
Blue is the ground of the American uniform, and this color
signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

"The meaning of the crest is obvious, as is likewise that of the
olive-branch and arrows.

"The escutcheon being placed on the breast of the eagle is a very
ancient mode of bearing, and is truly imperial. The eagle
_displayed_, is another heraldric figure; and, being borne in
the manner here described, supplies the place of supporters and
crest. The American States need no supporters but their own virtue,
and the preservation of their Union through Congress. The pales in
the arms are kept closely united by the chief, which last likewise
depends on that Union, and strength resulting from it, for its own
support--the inference is plain.

W. B."

"_June 13, 1782._"

Mr. Barton also presented the following:--

"A device for an armorial atchievement for the Great Seal of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled, agreeably to the
rules of heraldry, proposed by William Barton, A.M.

"ARMS.--Barry of thirteen pieces, argent and gules, on a canton
azure, and many stars disposed in a circle of the first; a pale or,
surmounted of another, of the third; charged in chief, with an eye
surrounded with a glory proper; and in the fess-point, an eagle
displayed on the summit of a Doric column, which rests on the base
of the escutcheon, both as the stars.

"CREST.--Or, an helmet of burnished gold damasked, grated with six
bars, and surmounted of a cap of dignity, gules, turned up ermine,
a cock armed with gaffs proper.

"SUPPORTERS.--On the dexter side; the genius of America
(represented by a maiden with loose auburn tresses, having on her
head a radiated crown of gold encircled with a sky-blue fillet,
spangled with silver stars; and clothed in a long loose white
garment, bordered with green. From her right shoulder to her left
side a scarf, _seme_ of stars, the tinctures thereof the same
as in the canton; and round her waist a purple girdle, fringed or
embroidered argent, with the word 'Virtue'--resting her interior
hand on the escutcheon, and holding in the other the proper
_Standard of the United States_, having a dove argent perched
on the top of it.

"On the sinister side: a man in complete armor, his sword-belt
azure, fringed with gold, his helmet encircled with a wreath of
laurel, and crested with one white and two blue plumes; supporting
with his dexter hand the escutcheon, and holding in the interior a
lance, with the point sanguinated, and upon it a banner displayed,
Vert., in the fess-point an harp stringed with silver, between a
star in chief, two _fleurs-de-lis_ in fess, and a pair of swords,
in saltier, in basses, all argent. The tenants of the escutcheon
stand on a scroll, on which is the following motto:--

'_Deo Favente_,'

which alludes to the _eye_ in the arms, meant for the eye of
Providence.

"Over the crest, in a scroll, this motto:--

'_Virtus sola invicta_,'

which requires no comment.

"The thirteen pieces, barways, which fill up the field of the arms,
may represent the several States; and the same number of stars,
upon a blue canton, disposed in a circle, represent a new
constellation, which alludes to the new empire formed in the world
by the confederation of those States. Their disposition in the form
of a circle, denotes the perpetuity of its continuance, the ring
being the symbol of eternity. The eagle displayed, is the symbol of
supreme power and authority, and signifies the Congress; the pillar
upon which it rests is used as the hieroglyphic of fortitude and
constancy, and its being of the Doric order (which is the best
proportioned and most agreeable to nature), and composed of several
members, or parts, all taken together, forming a beautiful
composition of strength, congruity, and usefulness, it may, with
great propriety, signify a well-planned government. The eagle being
placed on the summit of the column is emblematical of the
sovereignty of the government of the United States; and as further
expressive of that idea, those two charges, or five and six azure,
are borne in a pale which extends across the thirteen pieces into
which the escutcheon is divided. The signification of the eye has
been already explained. The helmet is such as appertains to
sovereignty, and the cap is used as the token of freedom and
excellency. It was formerly worn by dukes; says Guillien, _they
had a more worthy government than other subjects_. The cock is
distinguished for two most excellent qualities, viz.,
_vigilance_ and _fortitude_.

"The genius of the American confederated Republic is denoted by the
blue scarf and fillet glittering with stars, and by the tag of
Congress which she displays. Her dress is white edged with green,
colors emblematical of innocence and truth. Her purple girdle and
radiated crown indicate her sovereignty; the word "Virtue," on the
former, is to show that that should be her principal ornament; and
the _radiated_ crown, that no earthly crown shall rule her. The
dove, on the top of the American standard, denotes the mildness and
purity of her government.

"The knight in armor, with his bloody lance, represents the
military genius of the American empire, armed in defence of its
just rights. His blue belt and blue feathers, indicate his country,
and the white plume is in compliment to our gallant ally. The
wreath of laurel round his helmet is expressive of his success.

"The green field of the banner denotes youth and vigor; the
harp[61] [with thirteen strings], emblematical of the several
States acting in harmony and concert; the star _in chief_ has
reference to America, as _principal_ in the contest; the two
_fleurs-de-lis_ are borne as a grateful[62] testimony of the
_support_ given to her by France, and the two swords, crossing each
other, signify the state of war. This tenant and his flag relate
totally to America at the time of her Revolution.

(Signed,) "WM. BARTON."

[61] The pen is run through the words, "with thirteen
strings," in the original.

[62] "In the arms of Scotland, as manifested in the royal
atchievement, the double fressure which surrounds the lion is
borne _flory_ and _counter-flory_ (with _fleurs-de-lis_),
which is in consequence of a treaty that was entered into
between Charlemagne, then Emperor and King of France, and
Achius, King of Scotland; to denote that the French lilies
should guard and defend the Scottish lion."

Mr. Middleton, Mr. Boudinot, and Mr. Rutledge, reported a modification of this, June 13, 1782, which was referred to the Secretary of the United States, in Congress assembled, to take order.

Device for a Great Seal, as adopted June 20, 1782.

"The Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled, to whom
was referred the several reports of committees on the device of a
Great Seal to take order, reports:--

"That the device for an armorial atchievement, and reverse of a
Great Seal for the United States in Congress assembled, is as
follows:--

"ARMS.--Paleways, of thirteen pieces, argent and gules, a chief
azure. The escutcheon on the breast of the American bald eagle,
displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive-branch, and
in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his
beak a scroll, inscribed with this motto: _E Pluribus Unum_.

"FOR THE CREST.--Over the head of the eagle, which appears above
the escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud proper, and
surrounding thirteen stars forming a constellation, argent on an
azure field.

"REVERSE.--A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a
triangle, surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these words,
_Annuit Coeptis_. On the base of the pyramid, the numerical
letters, MDCCLXXVI., and underneath the following motto:

'_Novus ordo Seclorum._'

"_Remarks and Explanations._--The escutcheon is composed of the
chief and pale, the two most honorable ordinaries. The pieces paly,
represent the several States all joined in one solid compact
entire, supporting a chief, which unites the whole and represents
Congress. The motto, alluding to this Union. The pales in the arms
are kept closely united by the chief, and the chief depends on that
union, and the strength resulting from it, for its support, to
denote the confederacy of the United States of America, and the
preservation of their Union through Congress.

"The colors of the pales are those used in the flag of the United
States of America; white, signifies purity and innocence; red,
hardiness and valor; and blue, the color of the chief, signifies
vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The olive-branch and arrows
denote the power of peace and war, which is exclusively vested in
Congress. The constellation denotes a new State taking its place
and rank among the sovereign powers. The escutcheon is borne on the
breast of the American eagle, without any other supporters, to
denote that the United States of America ought to rely on their own
virtue.

"REVERSE.--The pyramid signifies strength and duration. The eye
over it, and the motto, allude to the many and signal
interpositions of Providence in favor of the American cause. The
date underneath is that of the Declaration of Independence; and the
words under it signify the beginning of the new American era, which
commences from that date."

In most of the above reports, a reference will be perceived to the devices and colors of the flag of the U. States, and many of the ideas presented in them are drawn from it, viz., the chief azure corresponding to the union of the flag, the pales corresponding to the stripes, which together constitute a whole; the constellation of stars also taken from the flag, and indicating a new State (composed of thirteen States) dependent upon their union. As these are the principal ideas presented in the arms of the United States, may we not reasonably conclude that, being borrowed from the flag, they are the views that prevailed at the time of its adoption, presented under another guise? The reference to eternity, in the arms, was indicated by the circle of stars in the flag; the reference to Providence, in the eye, was in the flag presented in the field of thirteen stripes, a combination of the red and white flags, which bore the mottoes: "_Qui transtulit sustinet_," and an "Appeal to Heaven."

It is intimated, in some of these reports, that the colors for the flag were adopted apart from other reasons, as implying certain virtues; of the fact of their implying them there can be no doubt, but that they were not immediately adopted into the flag for that reason, but rather because they were already in use, with these meanings attached to them, at least so far as the red and white colors were concerned, we think we have conclusively shown. We shall presently offer some suggestions relative to the blue color, which will indicate a more direct reason for its adoption than the virtues implied by it.

But to return to the account of the flag. We remarked, under the head of the Great Union Flag of the Colonies, that the stripes in the field of the flag were not only designed to show the union of the thirteen colonies, but also the number of members which composed it, and their dependence as a whole upon the Union. The first change in the flag of the United States, shows that this conclusion was a correct one. It was directed in the following resolution:--

"_Be it enacted_, &c., of May,
Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of
the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white. That
the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field." Approved
January 13, 1794. (See Fig. 2, Plate III.)

This was the flag of the United States during the war of 1812-14.

In 1818, the flag of the United States was again altered, and, as we are informed, on the suggestion of the Hon. Mr. Wendover, of New York, a return was made to the thirteen stripes; as it was anticipated the flag would become unwieldy if a stripe was added on the admission of each State; and, moreover, by the plan proposed, the union of the old thirteen States, as well as the number of members composing the existing Union, would be presented by the flag of the United States. Mr. W. also proposed the arrangement of the stars in the union into the form of a single star. In this, there was a departure from the original design, as the perpetuity of the Union ceased to be indicated by the flag, as it had previously been in the circle of stars, except so far as indicated by the several stars forming one large star.

The Resolution of 1818 was as follows:-

"_Be it enacted_, &c., That from and after the fourth day of July
next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes,
alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white, in
a blue field.

"And, that, on the admission of a 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 day of July next succeeding such
admission." Approved April 4, 1818.

The flag planted on the National Palace of the city of Mexico had thirty stars in the union.

The following compliment was paid to this flag.

June 3, 1848, "Mr. Drayton submitted the following resolution; which was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to:--

"_Resolved_, That the Vice-President be requested to have the flag
of the United States first erected by the American army upon the
palace in the capital of Mexico, and now here presented, deposited
for safe-keeping in the Department of State of the United
States."--Page 370, Journal of the Senate 1847-48.

The union of the United States flag at present contains thirty-one
stars. (See Fig. 3, Plate III.)

We have, in the preceding pages, offered many reasons for concluding that the devices in the flag, its colors, and the manner in which they were combined, originated in some circumstance directly connected with the history of the colonies, or in some practice which prevailed in the mother country. Particularly was this the case in the adoption of the emblem of union from the mother country. This leads us to make a few remarks as to the prominence given to the color blue in the reports on the adoption of the device for a Great Seal of the United States, and in its being the ground of the uniform of the United States. We have previously stated that its adoption was due to other circumstances directly, than its being typical of the virtues of perseverance, vigilance, and justice, though indirectly this meaning was involved in its adoption. First, blue was a favorite color in the colonies, as is proved by the fact of its being the uniform of the South Carolina troops in 1775. For we have seen that Colonel Moultrie caused a large blue flag to be made, with a crescent in one corner, to be uniform with the troops; and by the fact that the pine-tree flag of New England was a blue field, containing in the upper canton, next the staff, a St. George's cross on a white ground, and a pine-tree represented in the upper square formed by the cross. A reason for this color being a favorite in New England, may perhaps be found in the circumstance, that, in 1679, when the banner of the league and covenant was raised in Scotland, it was a red flag, the borders of which were edged with blue.[63] Borders of different color from the body of the flag, or from the shield of the coat of arms, are in heraldry, a common distinction, and as such was doubtless applied by the Covenanters (blue being the color of the field of the banner of Scotland, as we have seen), to indicate by whom this red flag was raised, and thus the blue color became identified with the league and covenant. After the defeat of Bothwell's Bridge, many of those people fled to the colonies, particularly to New England and New Jersey.

[63] Walter Scott's Old Mortality, vol. ii. p. 116.

That feelings kindred to those excited among the Covenanters were aroused among the colonists, is shown by the mottoes on "the Union flag with a red field," already spoken of as displayed on a liberty-pole in New York city in 1775. Those mottoes were, "No Popery," and "George Rex and the liberties of America." It was probably in reference to his being commander of the armies of the colonies, united in a solemn league and covenant in defence of civil and religious liberty, that General Washington adopted as his badge a light blue riband, which had already been identified with a similar league and covenant in Scotland. At a later day, on the adoption of an Union flag as the flag of the United Colonies, the color of the field of the union (derived, as was the blue border of the red flag of the Covenanters, from the banner of Scotland) being blue, this color became identified with that which gave nationality to the colonies, viz., their union, and on this account was adopted as the ground of the national uniform, and as the color for the chief or union, both in the arms of the United States and in their flag.

That the prevailing colors of the uniforms of the army at that time corresponded to the colors of the flag, is a well-known fact. Thus the facings of the blue coats were red, the color of the plumes white, tipped with red, &c. The buff and blue, commonly regarded as the continental uniform, was that of the general officers, and not of the body of the troops. In the navy, the same was the case. The prevailing colors of the uniform of the officers of the navy were blue and red; those of the uniform of the marine officers, green and white: the colors of the flag of the United States, and of the flag of the floating batteries, before given, viz., white, with a green tree in the middle, &c. &c.

That such considerations operate in the selection of colors for uniforms, is proved by the fact that the uniform of the United States corps of cadets, a corps instituted and kept up with a view to foster and preserve military knowledge in our country, instead of being of the national color, blue, is gray trimmed with black. This color for the uniform of that corps was chosen in 1815, out of compliment to the services of the brigade commanded by General Scott at Chippewa, &c., in the war of 1812-14. The embargo and the war having cut off the supply of blue cloths, the commissary-general of purchases was forced temporarily to supply that brigade with a substitute of gray, trimmed with black.

As this, then, was the origin of the color of the uniform of the corps of cadets, may we not conclude that, for the reasons assigned, blue was adopted as our national color, out of compliment to the Union, with which, as we have shown, it was intimately connected.

Having given the preceding account of our National Flag, we now add the names of those connected with its different phases.

1st. General Washington.

2d. Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Harrison; the Committee of Conference, with General Washington, on the organization of the army, of which Colonel Joseph Reed was Secretary.

3d. The Marine Committee; Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Deane, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Crane, Mr. R. Morris, Mr. Read, Mr. Chase, Mr. R. H. Lee, Mr. Hewes, Mr. Gadsden, and Mr. Houston.

4th. The Board of War; Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. E. Rutledge.

With this array of names before us, of those who, with others, established our liberty and Union, and the idea we have developed, that the devices adopted by them for the National Ensign of our country were intended to intimate the perpetuity of that country's union, may we not truly say of WASHINGTON and his compeers, now resting in their graves, as connected with those devices, There is neither speech nor language, but their voices are heard among them. Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their words into the ends of the world, proclaiming their trust in Providence, that that Union should only perish, when the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.