State is placed. The State convention of 1861 

 passed an ordinance providing that "the flag 

 of the Commonwealth shall hereafter be made 

 of bunting, which shall be a deep blue field, 

 with a circle of white in the center, upon which 

 shall be painted or embroidered, to show on 

 both sides alike, the coat-of-arms of the State 

 as described by the convention of 1776, for one 

 side (obverse) of the seal of the State." This 

 seal portrays Virtus, the genius of the Com- 

 monwealth, dressed like an Amazon, resting on 

 a scale at one hand and holding a sword in the 

 other, treading on Tyranny, represented by a 

 man prostrate, a crown fallen from his head, 

 a broken chain in his left hand, and a scourge 

 in his right. In the exergue the word "Vir- 

 ginia" appears over the head of Virtus, and 

 underneath the words "Sic semper tyrannis" 

 (Thus ever to tyrants). The seal of Virginia 

 was prepared by a committee of which Richard 

 Henry Lee and George Mason were members, 

 and was adopted on the fifth day of July, 1776, 

 one day after the Declaration of Independence 

 was proclaimed. 



311. New York adopted its present State 

 flag in 1909. The law provides that it shall be 

 blue, charged with the arms of the State in the 

 center. These arms, dating from March 16, 

 1778, rival in beauty the insignia of any other 

 State in the Union (see also 394). On the 

 shield is the sun rising in golden splendor be- 

 hind a range of three mountains. At the base 

 of the central mountain a ship and sloop are 

 shown under sail, about to meet on a river 

 bordered by a grassy shore. An American 

 eagle with outspread wings, rising from a globe 

 showing the north Atlantic Ocean with outlines 

 of its shores, forms the crest. The shield is 

 supported on the right by a blue-robed figure 

 of Liberty, her hair flowing and decorated with 

 a coronet of pearls. In her right hand she 

 holds a staff crowned with a Phrygian cap of 

 gold. At her feet a royal crown is cast. The 

 figure on the left is golden - robed Justice, 

 crowned with pearls, her eyes bound, and in 

 her left hand the familiar scales. On a scroll 

 beneath the shield is the motto, "Excelsior." 



No State has been more careful in guarding 

 the national flag, as well as its own emblem, 

 from desecration or improper use than the Em- 

 pire Commonwealth. Its laws are most explicit 

 and far-reaching in providing penalties for the 

 misuse of official flags for advertising purposes, 

 or for defacing, trampling upon, or mutilating 

 State and national colors and standards. To 

 stimulate patriotism and reverence for the na- 

 tional flag, the New York legislature has di- 

 rected that "it shall be the duty of the school 

 authorities of every public school in the sev- 

 eral cities and school districts of the State to 

 purchase a United States flag, flagstaff, and 

 necessary appliances, and to display such flag 

 upon or near the public-school building during 

 school hours, and at such other times as school 

 authorities may direct." When the weather 

 does not permit the flag's display in the open 

 it is placed conspicuously in the principal room 

 in the school-house. 



312. North Carolina. — The law prescrib- 

 ing thepresent State flag was enacted in 1885. 

 It provides that the flag shall consist of a blue 

 union containing in the center a white star with 



the letter "N" in gilt on the left and the letter 

 "C" in gilt on the right of the star, the circle 

 containing this design being one-third of the 

 union. The fly of the flag consists of two 

 equally proportioned bars, the upper red and 

 the lower white. The length of the bar hori- 

 zontally is equal to the perpendicular length of 

 the union. The total length of the flag is one- 

 third more than the width. A law enacted in 

 1907 provides that the State flag shall be flown 

 above every State institution and public build- 

 ing except in inclement weather. It also pro- 

 vides that the several Boards of Supervisors 

 of the counties shall either display the flag on 

 the court-house staff or drape it behind the 

 judge's stand. These Boards may display the 

 flag on such public occasions as they deem 

 proper. 



313. Rhode Island. — Although some au- 

 thorities believe that the stars of the American 

 colors originated in Rhode Island's colonial 

 colors (see also 396), it was not until 1877 

 that this State came to have an official flag. 

 The flag law was revised in 1882, and again in 

 1897, when the existing banner was established. 

 It is of white, five feet six inches fly, and four 

 feet ten inches deep, on a pike, bearing on each 

 side in the center a gold anchor twenty-two 

 inches high, and underneath it a blue ribbon 

 twenty-four inches long and five inches wide, 

 or in these proportions, with the motto, 

 "Hope," in gold letters thereon, the whole sur- 

 rounded by thirteen golden stars in a circle. 

 The flag is edged with yellow fringe. The 

 pike is surmounted by a spear head, its length 

 being nine feet, not including the spear head. 

 The flag of 1877 used blue for anchor, motto, 

 and stars, red for the scroll, and white for the 

 field. That of 1882 had a blue field in which a 

 golden anchor and thirteen golden stars were 

 centered. The flag of 1877 had as many stars 

 as States, but the later flags went back to the 

 original thirteen. 



314. Vermont's flag, adopted in 1862, con- 

 sists of thirteen stripes, alternately red and 

 white, with a canton of blue, on which rests a 

 single star of white, with the State coat-of- 

 arms thereon. The scene represented on the 

 coat-of-arms is an actual mountain and harvest 

 landscape in Vermont. The outlines of the 



-mountains are those of Camel's Hump and 

 Mansfield, as seen from Lake Champlain. 

 While the records of Vermont disclose no au- 

 thority for a coat-of-arms or a 'flag prior to 

 the act of September, 1866, this device appears 

 on a State seal procured in 1821 under the 

 order of the executive by Robert Temple, Esq., 

 then the secretary of the Governor and Council. 



315. Kentucky. — So far as a careful search 

 of the records of the State reveal, Kentucky 

 has never by legislative action adopted an offi- 

 cial flag. In 1880, however, a Board was con- 

 vened by general order, under the Adjutant 

 General, to consider and report a flag design 

 for the use of the State guard. Its report 

 was adopted with some modification, and by 

 general order a State flag w r as prescribed for 

 the guard and reserve militia when called into 

 service. This consists of a blue field with the 

 arms of the State embroidered in the center. 

 On the escutcheon appear two men apparently 

 shaking hands. The escutcheon is surmounted 



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