THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 



297 



Continental Congress. While the resolu- 

 tion appears in the records without any 

 account of preliminary discussion and 

 without any designation of specific rec- 

 ommendation, the order in which it is in- 

 corporated in the business of the day 

 leads to the assumption that it was re- 

 ported by the Marine Committee, for it is 

 sandwiched in among several naval mat- 

 ters. This portion of the official journal 

 for the day reads : 



"Resolved, That the Marine Commit- 

 tee be empowered to give such directions 

 respecting the Continental ships of war in 

 the river Delaware as they think proper 

 in case the enemy succeed in their at- 

 tempts on said river. 



"Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen 

 United States be thirteen stripes, alter- 

 nate red and white ; that the union be 

 thirteen stars, white in a blue field, rep- 

 resenting a new constellation. 



"The Council of the State of Massa- 

 chusetts Bay having represented by letter 

 to the president of Congress that Captain 

 John Roach, some time since appointed 

 to command the Continental ship of war 

 Ranger, is a doubtful character and 

 ought not to be entrusted with such a 

 command ; therefore 



"Resolved, That Captain John Roach 

 be suspended until the Navy Board for 

 the eastern department shall have en- 

 quired fully into his character and report 

 thereon to the Marine Committee. 



"Resolved, That Captain John Paul 

 Jones be appointed to command the said 

 ship Ranger." 



Thus it would seem that not only was 

 the first flag of the Continental Congress 

 (364) displayed for the first time from a 

 naval vessel, the Alfred (see page 288), 

 but that from the navy (in the person of 

 the Marine Committee of the Congress 

 of 1777) the nation also received the 

 Stars and Stripes. 



MANY THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OE THE 

 STARS AND STRIPES 



There have been advanced almost as 

 many theories as to the genesis of the 

 Stars and Stripes as there were stars in 

 the original ensign. Many hold to the 

 view that the new flag borrowed the 

 stripes from the ensign (364) raised by 



John Paul Jones on the Alfred on De- 

 cember 3, 1775, and the stars from the 

 colonial banner of Rhode Island (396) ; 

 others maintain that the idea for the flag 

 came from Netherlands, offering in sup- 

 port of this claim the statements of Ben- 

 jamin Franklin and John Adams, who 

 went to Holland to borrow money for the 

 struggling colonies and who told the 

 Dutch that America had borrowed much 

 from them, including the ideas repre- 

 sented in the flag. 



Whatever their origin, there is no per- 

 suasive evidence in the official records of 

 the time which would lead to the con- 

 clusion that the Stars and Stripes were 

 in use before the resolution of June 14, 

 1777. It is true,' however, that the paint- 

 ings of Trumbull and Peale do point to 

 its earlier use. But, as to the flags ap- 

 pearing in their paintings, it should be 

 recalled that an anachronism could be 

 readily excused in the case of Trumbull, 

 because he had left the colonies while 

 Washington was before Boston and was 

 abroad for seven years. Peale's picture 

 of Washington crossing the Delaware, 

 with respect to the colors carried, is be- 

 lieved to be a case of "artist's license." 



The well known story of Betsy Ross, 

 so-called maker of the Stars and Stripes, 

 is one of the picturesque legends which 

 has grown up around the origin of the 

 flag, but it is one to which few unsenti- 

 mental historians subscribe. There was, 

 however, a Mrs. Ross, who was a flag- 

 maker by trade, living in Philadelphia at 

 the time of the flag's adoption. 



BIELS RENDERED BY A ELAG DESIGNER 



A more authentic individual connection 

 with the designing of the flag is to be 

 found in the official records concerning 

 Francis Hopkinson, one of the delegates 

 to Congress from New Jersey, a signer 

 of the Declaration of Independence and 

 a member of the Marine Committee. In 

 November, 1776, Hopkinson was ap- 

 pointed one of a committee of three to 

 "execute the business of the navy under 

 the direction of the Marine Committee." 

 He resigned as a member of the Navy 

 Board in August, 1778, but continued to 

 take an interest in naval affairs, as shown 



