THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 



!03 



States Navy Department, to whom the 

 Geographic is indebted for helpful ad- 

 vice and criticism in the compilation of 

 the data published in this number of the 

 magazine, advances the following - theory 

 of the origin of the colors employed in 

 the national ensign : 



"The flag may trace its ancestry back 

 to Mount Sinai, whence the Lord gave 

 to Moses the Ten Commandments and 

 the book of the law, which testify of 

 God's will and man's duty ; and were de- 

 posited in the Ark of the Covenant within 

 the Tabernacle, whose curtains were blue, 

 purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen. 



"Before the ark stood the table of 

 shew-bread, with its cloth of blue, scar- 

 let, and white. These colors of the Jew- 

 ish Church were taken over by the early 

 Western Church for its own and given to 

 all the nations of western Europe for 

 their flags. When the United States 

 chose their flag it was of the colors of 

 old, but new in arrangement and design, 

 and they called it 'The Stars and Stripes.' 



"Our flag is of the colors red, white, 

 and blue. Red is for courage, zeal, fer- 

 vency; white is for purity, cleanness of 

 life, and rectitude of conduct ; blue is for 

 loyalty, devotion, friendship, justice, and 

 truth. The star is an ancient symbol of 

 India, Persia, Egypt, and signifies do- 

 minion and sovereignty." 



THE CALL OF THE FLAG 



Hon. Frederick C. Hicks, in the House 

 of Representatives on Flag Day, June 14, 

 191 7, thus portrayed the meaning of the 

 national ensign : 



"The flag of America does more than 

 proclaim mere power or acclaim a great 

 and glorious history. Its folds wave a 

 benediction to the yesterdays of accom- 

 plishment and beckon the tomorrows of 

 progress with hope and confidence ; it 

 heralds the noble purposes of a mighty 

 people and carries a message of hope and 

 inspiration to all mankind. Its glowing 

 splendor appeals to us to demand inter- 

 national justice and arbitration ; it com- 

 mands us to self-sacrifice and to univer- 

 sal obligation of service, which alone can 

 maintain equality of rights and fullness 

 of opportunity in our republic. 



"Its stars and its stripes voice the spirit 



of America calling to a nation of indom- 

 itable courage and infinite possibilities to 

 live the tenets of Christianity, to teach 

 the gospel of work and usefulness, to 

 advance education, to demand purity of 

 thought and action in public life, and to 

 protect the liberties of free government 

 from the aggressions of despotic power. 

 This is the call of the flag of the Union 

 in this hour of crisis and turmoil, when 

 civilization and the laws of nations and 

 of humanity are being engulfed in the 

 maelstrom of death and destruction." 



THE EMBLEM OE OUR UNITY 



President Wilson in a Flag Day ad- 

 dress said : 



"This flag, which we honor and under 

 which we serve, is the emblem of our 

 unity, our power, our thought and pur- 

 pose as a nation. It has no other char- 

 acter than that which we give it from 

 generation to generation. The choices 

 are ours. It floats in majestic silence 

 above the hosts that execute those choices, 

 whether in peace or in war. And yet, 

 though silent, it speaks to us — speaks to 

 us of the past, of the men and women 

 who went before us, and of the records 

 they wrote upon it. 



"We celebrate the day of its birth ; 

 and from its birth until now it has wit- 

 nessed a great history, has floated on 

 high the symbol of great events, of a 

 great plan of life worked out by a great 

 people. We are about to carry it into 

 battle, to lift it where it will draw the 

 fire of our enemies. We are about to 

 bid thousands, hundreds of thousands, it 

 may be millions, of our men — the young, 

 the strong, the capable men of the na- 

 tion — to go forth and die beneath it on 

 fields of blood far away. . . . 



"Woe be to the man, or group of men, 

 that seeks to stand in our way in this 

 day of high resolution, when every prin- 

 ciple we hold dearest is to be vindicated 

 and made secure for the salvation of the 

 nations. We are ready to plead at the 

 bar of history, and our flag shall wear 

 a new luster. Once more we shall make 

 good with our lives and fortunes the 

 great faith to which we were born, and 

 a new glory shall shine in the face of 

 our people." 



