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 J>onsi of tfjc American ftebolution 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF 
 THE UNITED STATES FLAG 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 . DELIVERED BY 
 
 R. C. BALLARD THRUSTON 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONGRESS, 
 
 AT THE PATRIOTIC MEETING IN 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 
 
 SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1915 
 
 [Reprinted from National Year Book, 1915, pages 257-265] 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 L91S 
 
,« 
 
 JAN ?£ <H6 
 
Address by R. C. Ballard Thruston 
 on the Origin and Evolution of 
 the United States Flag. :: :: :: 
 
 BEFORE we can thoroughly understand the origin 
 and development of our flag, it is necessary to go 
 back many years and study the origin and develop- 
 ment of that flag from which ours has been evolved. 
 
 Cross of St. Andrew. 
 
 It was in 1095, at the beginning of the first crusade, 
 that Pope Urban II thought the troops of each Christian 
 nation in that crusade should carry or wear crosses em- 
 blematic of Christ and of the character of the holy war 
 in which they were then about to engage. He accord- 
 ingly assigned crosses to the several national divisions of 
 his army varying in design and color scheme, so as to min- 
 imize the chances of confusion as much as possible. To 
 the Spanish he gave a red, to the French a white, to the 
 Italians a blue, and to the English a yellow cross, while 
 to the Scotch he assigned the white saltier of St. Andrew 
 on a blue flag (fig. 1), an emblem which they are said to 
 have previously used for several centuries. After this 
 crusade was over, the Scotch retained their cross, but the 
 others do not seem to have done so. In later crusades 
 similar assignments of crosses were probably made, but, as 
 before, they were not often retained by the several coun- 
 tries as national emblems. 
 
 Cross of St. George. 
 
 About the middle of the last half of the thirteenth 
 century, Prince Edward, afterward Edward I of England, 
 while on one of the crusades, became interested in the 
 story of St. George and the dragon, and before returning 
 home went to the Monastery of Cappadocia at Beirut, 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 where his interest increased to such a point that, soon after 
 his return to his native land, he adopted the red cross of 
 St. George on a white field as the flag of England (fig. 2). 
 It will be seen, therefore, that the flag of Scotland ante- 
 dated that of England by two or more centuries. 
 
 Flag of Great Britain, or Union Jack. 
 
 After James VI of Scotland ascended the throne of 
 England, in 1603, he was constantly annoyed by the eter- 
 nal wrangling between the masters of the English and 
 Scotch ships when they met at sea as to which one should 
 first dip its colors to the other. He was extremely anxious 
 to unite the two kingdoms into one country, as well as to 
 stop this annoyance. Therefore, in 1606, as one step 
 toward the accomplishment of his desire, he united the 
 two crosses into a new flag, which subsequently became 
 known as the Union Jack (fig. 3). This he required all 
 vessels of both countries to carry at their mainmast, at the 
 same time carrying from their foremast their old flag, 
 showing to which of the two countries the vessel belonged. 
 However, it was a century later before the two countries 
 agreed upon their union under the name of Great Britain, 
 and by act of their Parliament in 1707 the union of the 
 crosses was required to be used in all their flags, banners, 
 standards, and ensigns, both at sea and on land. The 
 army used one flag, the navy another, the merchant marine 
 a third, and so on, but each of them consisted either wholly 
 or in part of the Union Jack. Such was the state of the 
 case at the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, 
 and indeed is the case today. That uprising was really a 
 revolt against the monarchial despotism of the time, and 
 the idea of separation from the mother country was then 
 but little thought of of considered; in fact, the common 
 sentiment that bound the colonies together was not a \ 
 strong tie and required diplomatic handling to avoid 
 breaking. 
 
Fig. i. Scorn i Flag: White Cross 01 St. 
 Andrew on I'.u i 
 
 Fig. 2. English Flag : Red Cross 
 George on \Ym ite 
 
 Fig. 3. King's or Union C01 orj 
 [606 
 
 fAMES VI. 
 
4 
 
 TO HEAVEN 
 
 f 
 
 i J 
 
 Fig. .4. Massachusetts Flag 
 
 
 I 
 
 Fig. 5. Rhode Island Flag: White Field, 
 
 1 \ [on [3 W11 1 n St \k- on Blue 
 
 Fig. 6. Ni w ¥o*k Ft \<. : Bt u k Bi w\ b on 
 
 Win n: Field 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 When General Washington, after his election as Gen- 
 eral and Commander-in-Chief, reached Cambridge, on 
 July 3, 1775, to take command, he found the so-called 
 army practically without either colors or uniforms. In 
 fact, General Putnam, who commanded the Connecticut 
 troops, is said to have worn the blue jeans, supported by 
 only one suspender, which he had on when, hearing of the 
 battles of Lexington and Concord, he left his plow and 
 started for Cambridge. So General Washington assigned 
 to the various officers, as a distinction of rank, ribbons 
 varying in color and number, and these were worn by them 
 until something more elaborate and formal was designed. 
 There were practically neither flags nor colors, though 
 some of the individual companies are supposed to have 
 brought with them those which they had previously used. 
 
 Colonial Flags. 
 
 Washington had the entire army to organize in all its 
 minute details, and the question of colors, being of less 
 importance than many others, was not given serious con- 
 sideration at the start, but a little later he urged the vari- 
 ous colonels to provide for their regiments colors of such 
 design or designs as might appeal to them. This was fre- 
 quently done, and in many instances some design of thir- 
 teen units was used to represent the revolting colonies. 
 
 Some of the colonies went so far as to adopt flags of 
 their own. For instance, Massachusetts adopted the pine 
 tree, with the motto, "An Appeal to Heaven" (fig. 4) ; 
 Rhode Island, one having an anchor and the word "Hope," 
 within the canton a union of thirteen white stars on a blue 
 field (fig. 5), said to be the first flag on which the thirteen 
 colonies were represented by thirteen stars; New York, a 
 black beaver on a white field (fig. 6) ; Pennsylvania does 
 not seem to have adopted any, but the First Troop of 
 Light Horse, organized in Philadelphia in 1774, i n antici- 
 pation of the coming trouble, adopted a very beautiful one 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 that was given to them by their commander, Captain 
 Markoe. In the center of this flag (fig. 7) was a knot 
 tied with thirteen cords, and in the canton thirteen hori- 
 zontal stripes, alternating blue and silver. This company 
 acted as General Washington's escort from Philadelphia 
 through Pennsylvania and across the States of New Jersey 
 and New York to the Connecticut line, just after his elec- 
 tion as Commander-in-Chief of the army, and it is claimed 
 that their flag was the first one on which the colonies were 
 represented by thirteen horizontal stripes. Virginia is said 
 to have adopted the rattlesnake (fig. 8) which Colonel 
 Gadsden urged Congress to adopt, but I have searched 
 for the act without success. The South Carolina flag has 
 an interesting history. In September, 1775, the Commit- 
 tee of Safety of Charleston instructed Col. William Moul- 
 trie to take possession of Fort Johnson, on James Island, 
 which he did. The uniform of their troops was blue, with 
 a silver increscent in the cap. Soon realizing that a fLg 
 was needed, he improvised one having a blue field, with a 
 white increscent in the canton. This was the flag which 
 Sergeant Jasper so gallantly rescued on June 28, 1776, 
 when the fort of palmetto logs on Sullivan's Island was 
 attacked by the British fleet under Adm. Sir Peter Parker, 
 and it was under this flag that the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence was read to the people of Charleston on August 
 8, 1776. When that State came to officially adopt a flag, 
 it took the one which Colonel Moultrie had designed and, 
 in recognition of the good services of the palmetto logs, 
 placed upon it the palmetto tree (fig. 9). 
 
 Cambridge, Great Union, or Striped Union Fj 
 
 But it would not do to accept any of these fl em- 
 
 blematic of the thirteen colonies because of their sectional 
 prejudices, and, singular as it may seem, the flag which 
 apparently first received some official recognition by G 
 eral Washington as representative of the thirteen colonies 
 

 
 Fig. 7. Flag of Philadelphia Troop of Light 
 Horsk ix 1775, When Thfy Escorted Gen- 
 eral Washington to New York. 
 
 9 
 
 D °NTTREM)ONtf 
 
 
 Fig. 8. Gadsden and Virginia Flag: Coiled 
 Rattlesnake on White <>h Yellow Field 
 
 Fig. 9. South Carolina Flag, i77<> : | ' 111 
 l-'n 1.11, White Pai metto, and I m resi i n i 
 
Fig. i<>. Cambridge Flag, January i, 1776 
 
 Pig 11. North Carolina Flag : BLUE and Red STRIPES, Blue Stars on Whiti: Field 
 Bottom I Blue I Strut. Torn Off 
 
 Fig, [2. Cavalr> Guidon of Civit Wae, 1861- 
 
 isr.; Union I. gh r Bi n:. St \rs Gold 
 
 Tins guidon was never issued to the troops. 
 \i U S. Militan Academy, West Point, \". Y. 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 sprang into being without any known official orders or 
 direction. The statement is made that it was the result of 
 a committee appointed by Congress for that purpose, but 
 the committee referred to was appointed to confer with 
 General Washington and others for the purpose of devis- 
 ing means for organizing and maintaining an army, and 
 neither does their official report nor correspondence show 
 that they even considered the question of a flag. It was 
 not long after their return to Philadelphia when, on Jan- 
 uary i or 2, 1776, there was hoisted over General Wash- 
 ington's headquarters at Cambridge a flag having thirteen 
 horizontal red and white stripes and in the canton was the 
 Union Jack (fig. 10), complying with the act of 1707, 
 requiring that it be on all flags, banners, standards, and 
 ensigns, whether used on land or at sea. It was merely 
 the British marine flag of that day, with the solid red field 
 divided by white ribbons so as to make thirteen red and 
 white stripes, representing the thirteen revolting colonies. 
 At that time the idea of independence was not generally 
 seriously considered, so that the Union Jack in this flag 
 showed the allegiance of the colonies to their mother coun- 
 try. The flag itself was immediately appropriated by the 
 navy, and although our army used it over fortifications and 
 barracks, they did not carry it in battle. With the growth 
 of the idea of independence, the colonists apparently con- 
 ceived a dislike for the Union Jack in the flag, for before 
 the end of the calendar year 1776 its use by our Revolu- 
 tionary patriots seems to have ceased entirely. After the 
 abandonment of this flag, and before the adoption of our 
 starry emblem, I have not been able to obtain reliable in- 
 formation as to just what our navy did carry, but it prob- 
 ably consisted of thirteen horizontal stripes, in each case 
 composed of two of the four colors — red, white, blue, and 
 yellow. QuR FlRST Flag Act 
 
 It was on June 14, 1777, that our Continental Congress 
 passed the following act establishing the Stars and Stripes 
 as the flag of our country: 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen 
 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen 
 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constella- 
 tion. 
 
 You will notice that this act does not define how many 
 points the stars were to have nor how they were to be 
 arranged. 
 
 Our navy immediately appropriated the new flag; but 
 as the British army and navy had used different flags for 
 many years, we thought we should do likewise, and the 
 official correspondence between General Washington and 
 the Board of War shows that it was over two years before 
 they agreed upon a design for the army to carry "as variant 
 from the marine flag," and over three years more before 
 the Board of War succeeded in obtaining the necessary 
 materials and having national colors made for our army. 
 The details of the design are only imperfectly described 
 in this correspondence, neither flag nor design having been 
 preserved, so far as we have been able to learn, but it con- 
 tained the union, and in the center was a serpent, with the 
 number of the regiment and name of the State where the 
 regiment was organized. This correspondence also shows 
 that the national colors prepared by the Board of War 
 for the army were ready for distribution in the fall of 
 1782, and that they had not been distributed as late as 
 March 1 1, 1783, being then in the hands of the keeper of 
 military stores. The war was then practically over, and 
 there is nothing to show that our Revolutionary army had 
 ever carried any flags furnished by the American Congress. 
 Those that were carried were purely personal, each made 
 by or for some officer, company, or regiment, and repre- 
 sented the sentiments of the makers. 
 
 So far, I have succeeded in locating only one Stars and 
 Stripes that I feel sure was carried by the American army 
 during our Revolutionary War. It was carried by the 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 North Carolina Militia at the Battle of Guilford Court- 
 house, March 15, 1781; but the stripes are blue and red 
 and the union has a white field with thirteen eight-pointed 
 stars (fig. 11). There is also another flag hanging in the 
 State House at Annapolis that it is claimed, and probably 
 correctly, was carried by the Third Maryland Regiment 
 at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 178 1. It has thir- 
 teen red and white stripes, and the union is a blue field 
 with thirteen five-pointed stars — one in the center and 
 twelve arranged in the form of a circle around it (fig. 13). 
 In both cases these flags were purely personal, not official. 
 The Stars and Stripes preserved in the State House at 
 Boston (fig. 14) is claimed to have flown over Fort Inde- 
 pendence during the American Revolution, but it was not 
 carried by the army and probably was not furnished by 
 the Board of War. 
 
 Reorganization of the Army. 
 
 The army was disbanded in November, 1783, by act of 
 Congress, but even before the adoption of the Federal 
 Constitution, Congress appears to have recognized the 
 necessity of having something of an army, and on October 
 3, 1787, passed an act creating one, consisting of one regi- 
 ment, having eight companies of infantry and one battalion 
 of artillery. After the adoption of our Federal Constitu- 
 tion and the organization of our government, Congress 
 passed the act of September 29, 1789, taking over this 
 little force as the army of the United States, but it did not 
 carry the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Early National Colors. 
 
 The first flag carried by our army as national colors is 
 still in existence. It was recently mounted between two 
 layers of Brussels net, at the expense of our Society, for 
 the purpose of preservation, and is today hanging in the 
 chapel on Governor's Island (fig. 15). Under the act of 
 
io Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 March 3, 1 79 1 , the size of our army was increased from 
 one regiment to two, and then it became necessary to have 
 two flags, one for each regiment. The one carried by the 
 first regiment has been preserved and is today at the U. S. 
 Military Academy at West Point (fig. 17). The design 
 is the same as that previously carried, but with the addi- 
 tion of a designation in the canton, which included the 
 number of the regiment, though not the branch of the 
 service, that being unnecessary, for there were then only 
 the two regiments. You will notice that on both of these 
 flags the stars were eight-pointed. In 1792 our army was 
 again increased and divided into four sublegions, but the 
 national colors then carried either have not been preserved 
 or if preserved have not been identified. 
 
 Our Second Flag Act. 
 
 Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1 79 1 and Ken- 
 tucky in 1792, and their members in Congress claimed that 
 these States also should be represented on the flag. 
 Accordingly Congress passed the following act, approved 
 by President Washington January 13, 1794: 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
 bled, That from and after the first day 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. 
 But still the army did not carry the Stars and Strip. 
 
 National Colors of the War of 1812. 
 
 By act of May 30, 1796, the sublegion feature in our 
 army was abandoned, and, although 1 have no absolute 
 proof to substantiate this view, I am strongly of the opin- 
 ion that there was then adopted as national colors the gen- 
 eral de81gn carried by our army during the War of 1 S I 2, 
 
Fig. 13. Flag of Third Maryland Regiment 
 
 Fig. 14. Jonath \n l-'<>\\ 11 Ft tc 
 Made in 17S1. In State I touse, Boston 
 
Fig. 15. First Flag Used by U. S. Army as National Colors. 17S7 <»k 1789 ro [791 
 Hanging in chapel at Governor's Island, X. Y. 
 
 Fig. 10. i ; i..\<; Carried b^ r. S. Umv \> Nationax, Cou w u 01 181a 
 
 Design embroidered. \t U. S. Military Academy, West Point, X. Y. 
 
Fig. 17. Flag Carried by U. S. Army as National Om.oks. [791 [792 
 At U. S. Military Academy, Wesl Point, N. Y. 
 
 Fig. [8. Fi^g Carried bv U. S. \kmv as National Colors During War 
 Design painted. At U. S. Military Academy, Wesl Point, N. Y. 
 
Fig. \n. Fort McHenm Flag, 1S14 
 
 The original flag thai floated over Fort McHenry September 14. 1814, and inspired 
 Francis Scotl Kej to write the "Star Spangled Banner." In l\ S. National Museum. 
 For 11- preservation the flag 1- quilted on linen cloth, Width, 29 feet 9 inches; present 
 length, 33 feel 6 inches. 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 1 1 
 
 having a blue field with a simulation of die arms of the 
 United States thereon. At the outbreak of this war quite 
 a number of these flags were evidently made. Our seven- 
 teenth State was admitted in 1802. As a rule, the shield 
 on the eagle's breast had seventeen white and red stripes 
 and on the chief of the shield were the letters U. S. ; above 
 or around the eagle were seventeen stars, sometimes five- 
 pointed, but more frequently six, and below the eagle was 
 a scroll, pale blue if the stars were five-pointed, but red if 
 they were six-pointed, carrying the number and name of 
 the regiment (figs. 16, 18). 
 
 Singular as it may seem, the printed regulations of our 
 War Department do not show what the army carried as 
 national colors at this period; but fortunately a number of 
 the flags that were so used have been preserved and are at 
 present at the United States Quartermaster's Depot at 
 Philadelphia, hanging in the chapel at the army post on 
 Governor's Island, and at the United States Military 
 Academy at West Point. Those which were captured by 
 the British are at Chelsea Hospital, in London, and as 
 trophies of war were carefully labeled. They constitute 
 the mute evidence upon which what I have just said is 
 largely based. 
 
 Our Third Flag Act. 
 
 In 1 8 16 the Hon. Peter H. Wendover, Congressman 
 from New York, advocated a further modification in our 
 flag to give representation to the States which had been 
 admitted since the last flag act was adopted. Objection 
 was made that there was no telling to what extent our 
 nation would grow, and if an additional star and stripe 
 were added for each new State the flag might become very 
 awkward in shape and design. After two years of discus- 
 sion, the suggestion of Capt. Samuel Chester Reid was 
 adopted, that we return to the original thirteen stripes, 
 with one star for each State in the Union. Accordingly 
 
12 Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 Congress passed the following act, approved by President 
 Monroe April 4, 18 18: 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
 bled, 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. 
 
 Section 2. And 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 day of July next succeeding such 
 admission. 
 
 A portion of Captain Reid's suggestion was not adopted, 
 namely, that the stars be arranged in horizontal rows for 
 the navy, and to form one great star for the merchant 
 marine. His failure to make a suggestion for an arrange- 
 ment of the stars for the army is silent testimony in sup- 
 port of the statement that the army did not then carry the 
 Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Use of Stars and Stripes as National Colors. 
 
 In fact, no branch of the army was given the right to 
 carry the Stars and Stripes, according to published regula- 
 tions of the War Department, until 1834, when for the 
 first time the artillery was given that privilege. The in- 
 fantry carried as national colors and the cavalry as national 
 standard a blue flag having a simulation of the arms of the 
 United States, varying somewhat from that carried during 
 the War of 18 T2, in that a second scroll bearing the 
 national motto, "E pluribus unum," was placed in the beak 
 of the eagle, both scrolls always having red fields. Above 
 tin* eagle was one star for each State in the Union. These 
 stars were generally, if not universally, six-pointed. 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 13 
 
 It was not until 1841 that the infantry was given the 
 right to carry the Stars and'Stripes as national colors, and 
 what had previously been their national colors then became 
 their regimental colors. 
 
 But the strangest of all is that not until 1887, twenty- 
 two years after the close of our Civil War, was the cavalry 
 given the right to carry the Stars and Stripes as the national 
 standard, although in 1863 each battery of artillery and 
 each company of cavalry was allowed to carry a small 
 guidon consisting of the Stars and Stripes (fig. 12). 
 
 You will notice that in no one of the three acts adopting 
 our national flag is there mention as to how these stars 
 should be arranged or as to how many points they should 
 have. Apparently all matters of detail were left to the 
 rulings of the departments or the whims of the makers. 
 In our first flag the stars were sometimes arranged in the 
 quincunx order, in a circle, or with one star in the center 
 and the remaining twelve either in the form of a circle or 
 hollow square, or three horizontal rows of four, five, and 
 four respectively, or indeed in the seme or irregular order. 
 In New Orleans recently I saw two thirteen-star flags, 
 each having one star in the center, one in each of the four 
 corners of the union, and the remaining eight in the form 
 of a circle. 
 
 In our second flag they were also arranged in several 
 different orders, three horizontal rows of five each, or 
 three vertical rows of five each, sometimes in the quincunx 
 order, as was the flag that floated over Fort McHenry 
 when Key was inspired to write "The Star Spangled 
 Banner" (fig. 19) ; some of them had one star in the center 
 and fourteen stars arranged in the form of a circle and 
 occasionally arranged so as to form one great star. 
 
 The Third Kentucky Mounted Riflemen, under Col. 
 Richard M. Johnson, at the battle of the Thames, on 
 October 5, 18 13, carried a guidon having four stars in the 
 corners and the remaining nine stars in the form of a 
 circle, with what appears to be the letter "I" in the center. 
 
14 Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 This flag had only thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, but 
 there is nothing to show whether or not it antedated the act 
 of 1794. Probably they did then what we do today, con- 
 tinue the use of a flag, even though it may not have the 
 full complement of stars. The original Johnson flag is in 
 the rooms of the Kentucky State Historical Society at 
 Frankfort. 
 
 The Navy Department has always made its own flags, 
 and as early as 18 18 the naval regulations as to design 
 and proportions were explicit, and with the admission of 
 each new State minute instructions were issued as to the 
 design of our naval flags. The custom in our army, how- 
 ever, has been to let out the making of its flags by contract, 
 and consequently there was always a lack of uniformity. 
 
 There were so many different designs in use in 1837 
 that the government of Holland asked its representative 
 in this country to report just what our flag was. Similar 
 requests were made by other countries, and in 1851 the 
 commanding general of our army asked one of his aids, 
 afterward Gen. Schuyler Hamilton, to investigate the mat- 
 ter and write a history of our flag. This was done, the 
 work being published in 1852, and, so far as I know, it ;s 
 the first careful study of the subject. 
 
 Flags with an Eagle in the Union. 
 
 Apparently about 1841, when our infantry was first 
 given the right to carry the Stars and Stripes, there was a 
 desire on the part of some to preserve their old national 
 colors in the union of the new Bag. 
 
 One of these, planted by Gen. John C. Fremont in 
 1S41-1842 on the Rocky Mountains, has the eagle, with a 
 bunch of arrows in one claw and the Indian pipe of peace 
 in the other, with thirteen stars above and a like number 
 below. This is preserved in the Southwest Museum at 
 Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
Fig. 20. United States Flag: Executive Order of mjij 
 
 Fig. 21. Naval Boat Flag: Executive Order of iou 
 
Evolution of the United States Flag. 15 
 
 During our Mexican War the Fourth Indiana Volun- 
 teers carried a flag having in the union an eagle standing 
 on a segment of the globe, with a bundle of arrows in one 
 claw, as though intending to conquer the earth. This has 
 been preserved and is now in the historical section of the 
 Smithsonian Institution at Washington. 
 
 Another flag that has just come to light, though in a 
 badly dilapidated condition, is preserved by the Kentucky 
 State Historical Society at Frankfort, Ky. It was carried 
 by the Second Kentucky Volunteer Infantry during the 
 Mexican War. The fragments show that this flag also 
 had an eagle in the canton and that the stars were eight- 
 pointed. 
 
 Another flag of somewhat similar design and supposed 
 to have been carried by one of the regiments during our 
 Civil War is preserved at the United States Military 
 Academy at West Point, N. Y. 
 
 It is probable that each of these flags with an eagle in 
 the union was purely personal and not furnished by the 
 War Department. 
 
 Odd Arrangement of Stars. 
 
 On July 4, 1857, a resident of Jersey City was inter- 
 ested in observing the variations in design of the American 
 flags then on display. He noted that though the stripes 
 were generally red and white sometimes they were white 
 and red, and that the stars on different flags were arranged 
 in nine different methods. Quite a number of such flags 
 that have seen actual use are preserved in the Ordnance 
 Museum at the United States Military Academy at West 
 Point, N. Y. They show a wide range in the arrange- 
 ment of the stars. 
 
 Executive Order of October 29, 191 2. 
 
 In fact it was not until quite recently that the different 
 departments of our National government appointed repre- 
 
1 6 Evolution of the United States Flag. 
 
 sentatlvcs to confer and see if they could not bring order 
 out of chaos. As a result of their deliberations, on Octo- 
 ber 29, 191 2, President Taft issued an Executive order 
 defining minutely the proportions and other details of our 
 flag, at the same time approving a custom which has existed 
 in the navy, probably ever since it was instituted, of plac- 
 ing on their small boat flags only thirteen stars, instead of 
 the full complement, in order to preserve their identity. 
 
 Some of the above startling facts were first published 
 by Mr. Gherardi Davis in his excellent work entitled "The 
 Colors of the United States Army, 1789-19 12," but in- 
 tended for private circulation only. These were confirmed 
 by investigations which I have since made, and in doing 
 that work other startling facts were brought to light. 
 The thought then occurred to me that if in March, 1783, 
 the flags which had been made as national colors for our 
 Revolutionary army were in the hands of the keeper of 
 military stores ready for distribution, but never distrib- 
 uted, they should be still in existence somewhere and prob- 
 ably in a bundle by themselves. I therefore took up the 
 question with Compatriot Henry Breckinridge, Assistant 
 Secretary of War, and asked him if he would not have a 
 search made for them. On May 27, 191 5, I received a 
 letter from him, in which he says: "It appears from a 
 report just received from the Acting Quartermaster Gen- 
 eral of the army that there is no record in his office with 
 respect to such flags," and inclosed me a copy of the report 
 of Brig. Gen. Henry G. Sharp, Acting Quartermaster 
 General. I am not satisfied with the result. Although I 
 fear the flags are not now in existence, nevertheless I desire 
 to continue that search, though with but faint hopes of 
 ever succeeding in finding them, for unfortunately the 
 archives of our National government are so widely scat- 
 tered, badly boused, and inaccessible that they are of little 
 service in an investigation of this character. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 027 211 002 5 •