government organized all of New England as 

 a royal domain. In 1686 Edmund Andros ar- 

 rived as Governor of the province. The flag 

 under his rule was the red cross of St. George 

 on a white field with a gold crown in the cen- 

 ter. Under the crown appeared the letters 

 J. R., the cipher of King James. But in 1689, 

 with the arrival in England of William of 

 Orange, the colonists deposed Andros, and this 

 flag was consigned to the oblivion of banners 

 no longer expressive of the feelings of a de- 

 veloping people. 



386. Nova Scotia. — Nova Scotia was the 

 New Scotland, just as the Massachusetts group 

 of colonies was the New England, for even in 

 the days of King James there was no Great 

 Britain, but the two separate countries. And 

 that is why the vertical cross of St. George 

 appeared on the Andros and other New Eng- 

 land flags, while the diagonal Scottish cross of 

 St. Andrew marked those of Nova Scotia. 

 The center of the flag- is marked by the crown 

 and cipher of James Sixth of Scotland and 

 First of England. He it was who united the 

 two crosses into the union flag of 1606, the 

 very year in which he gave the first royal 

 grants of land in North America, under which 

 permanent settlements grew up. It was not 

 until 1S01, long after the Stars and Stripes 

 were- known on every sea, that the red diag- 

 onal cross of St. Patrick, in recognition of 

 Ireland, was added to the combined crosses, 

 thus making the familiar British union jack of 

 today. 



387. Escutcheon Ensign. — Early in the life 

 of the New England Colonies it was seen that 

 the merchant ships of the mother country 

 needed a special flag to distinguish them from 

 the King's ships. In 1701 we find this order 

 from the Admiralty Office at Whitehall, Lon- 

 don : "Merchant ships to wear no other jack 

 than that worn by His Majesty's ships, with 

 the distinction of a white escutcheon in the 

 middle thereof." The "Governors of His Maj- 

 esty's plantations" were ordered to 'oblige the 

 commanders of their merchant ships to use 

 this and no other. The merchant ships, how- 

 ever, continued to fly the various flags endeared 

 to their commanders by old associations. Many 

 of them seem to have preferred the usual red 

 or blue New England flag which had a red 

 St. George's cross and a globe (388) or tree 

 (363) on a white ground in the upper left- 

 hand corner. 



388. (See 383.) 



389. Colonel Moultrie's Flag. — In Sep- 

 tember, 1775, Colonel Moultrie, having received 

 orders from the Council of Safety to take Fort 

 Johnson on James Island, S. C. thought a flag 

 necessary ; so he devised a large blue flag with 

 a white crescent in the upper corner next the 

 staff, this design being suggested by the blue 

 uniformsof the garrison and the silver cres- 

 cents which the men wore on their caps, in- 

 scribed with the words "Liberty or Death." 

 Colonel Moultrie in his memoirs says that "this 

 was the first American flag displayed in the 

 South" (see also 406). 



390. (See 383.) 



391. Washington's Navy, 1775.— This was 

 the flag flown by Washington's six cruisers in 

 1775- The Lady Washington, a brig fitted out 



in 1775, was captured by H. M. S. Fowey on 

 December 7 of the same year, and her colors 

 were placed in the Admiralty Office in Lon- 

 don. They are described as bearing a pale 

 green pine tree on a field of white bunting, 

 with the motto, "Appeal to Heaven." After 

 the Continental ensign (364) came into use by 

 Washington's fleet, January 1, 1776, this white 

 flag and green pine tree, with variations (399), 

 was adopted April 29, 1776, as the ensign of 

 the vessels of the Massachusetts navy (see 399 

 and 401 ; see also the history of our Stars and 

 Stripes, printed elsewhere in this number). 



392. Bedford Flag. — Probably the most in- 

 teresting flag of all the colonial period is this 

 standard of the Bedford Minute Men, carried 

 by them at the battle of Concord. It is small, 

 being only about 2 l / 2 feet square, but carries 

 woven among its faded threads the love and 

 veneration of a grateful America. Wrought 

 in silver and gold on a red ground is an arm 

 appearing from a cloud, with the hand holding 

 a sword. The scroll is in gold with the motto, 

 "Vince Aut Morire" (Conquer or die). It now 

 has an honored place among the relics of the 

 Historical Society at Bedford, Mass. It bears 

 a "striking resemblance to the Ostend Fight en- 

 sign (1144),; 



393. Philadelphia Light Horse. — This 

 standard, presented to the Philadelphia troop 

 of Light Horse by Capt. Abraham Markoe, and 

 still displayed at the troop's anniversary din- 

 ners, is one of the first American flags in 

 which thirteen stripes were used. This banner 

 was carried by the Philadelphia troop when it 

 acted as escort to General Washington from 

 Philadelphia to New York on his way to Cam- 

 bridge, there to assume command of the Con- 

 tinental Army. The Philadelphia troop was 

 composed of 28 men, who equipped themselves 

 at their own expense. Captain Markoe re- 

 signed his commission as captain of this orga- 

 nization late in 1775, in obedience to an edict 

 of King Christian VII of Denmark, who for- 

 bade any of his subjects to engage in the war 

 against Great Britain. Before tendering his 

 resignation, however, the commander presented 

 this standard to the troop. 



394. New York. — The armed ships of New 

 York are reported to have used this flag it) 

 1775. The beaver reminds us eloquently of the 

 prominent part the lucrative fur trade played 

 in the early history of the colony. The glow- 

 ing accounts brought back by Hudson of the 

 rich harvest of valuable furs to be secured led 

 Holland to authorize the trading companies 

 which colonized New York. The beaver was 

 used on the seal of New Netherlands and 

 found a place on the seal of New York City. 



395. Bkxxixgtox. — At the battle of Ben- 

 nington, Yt., August 16, 1777. 2,000 Green 

 Mountain boys, under Gen. John Stark, practi- 

 cally annihilated the forces under General 

 Baum, sent to capture stores and to overawe 

 the country. The loss of these troops was 

 partly responsible for the failure of Bur- 

 goyne's carefully planned campaign and was 

 one of the events that led to the open recog- 

 nition of our country by France. 



396. Rhode Island. — Fashioned from white 

 silk with thirteen stars on a canton of blue 

 and showing a blue anchor surmounted by the 



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