History of the National Flag of the United States of America Part 6

The striped Union flag was the colonial colors, both at sea and land, but there was also, as we have seen, a standard such as was used by the commander-in-chief of the American navy, being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattlesnake in the middle, in the att.i.tude of going to strike, and the words underneath, "Don't tread on me." The color of the snake, as represented, was dark. This circ.u.mstance goes strongly to prove the correctness of our conclusion, that the example of the mother country was followed in the preparation of the flags of this period--for the quarantine flag of the mother country was a _yellow_ flag with a dark spot, a representation of the plague-spot in the middle--those colors were, doubtless, chosen for the rattlesnake flag, to indicate the deadly character of the venom of the rattlesnake, and the danger of treading on it.

But we have before stated that the rattlesnake first appeared as a snake divided into thirteen parts, each part marked with the initials of the colony to which it corresponded, and beneath them the motto, "Join, or die," indicating the necessity of union. And that, the union being effected, the initials on the parts were dropped (thus indicating the equality of the colonies under the Union), and the parts were united in the form indicated in this standard, and beneath it the words, "Don't tread on me," implying the consciousness of strength derived from that union, of which, we have seen, the rattlesnake was an emblem indigenous to America, while at the same time the serpent implies eternal duration. This, then, may properly be called the Rattlesnake Union Standard, and the other, the Great Union, or Striped Union Flag; and together they indicated that existence as a people was inseparable from union--the strength resulting from that union--the necessary subordination of each colony to the whole Union, the intimate connection of the colonies composing the Union, their equality and perpetuity under it, and the power of fascination in the Union and harmony in the colonies, which would draw everybody to America, and cause those who had once tasted the liberty and blessings she enjoys, never to leave her, but to "spend their lives with her."

Having thus described the flags of the United Colonies, and shown that they were emblematic of union, and hence called Union flags, in imitation of the prevailing custom of the mother country, we now proceed to consider the Flag of the United States, described in the following Resolution of Congress, pa.s.sed June 14, 1777:--

"_Resolved_, That the Flag of the Thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: That the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

This resolution was made public September 3, 1777; and Colonel Trumbull represents the flag made in pursuance of it as used at Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, 1777.

From the above resolution and what has preceded, it is apparent that the object of that resolution was simply to give the authorization of Congress to a color existing, so far as the stripes and part of the flag called the union were concerned; but it is worthy of remark that the character of the new emblem for that union is specially described as representing "a new constellation."

The use of some emblem of union different from the British crosses, the United States having declared themselves free and independent States, was eminently natural, but the description of the emblem subst.i.tuted for them as "representing a new constellation," involves the idea that some constellation, in some way emblematic of union, had been presented to the minds of those adopting this resolution. It may be said that the adoption of a star, as the representative of a State, would naturally lead to the idea of a constellation; but, as the emblem to be altered was one of union, we are inclined to think that the first idea suggested was that of some constellation, which of itself implied union, and that the representation of a State by a star was involved in it.

The question that now arises is, was there any constellation which implied union? The answer is, there was the constellation Lyra. The next point is, to ascertain if the first flag displayed under this resolution bore that constellation. If not, in what form the stars were presented on that flag, and whether any connection can be traced between it and the constellation Lyra.

Let us first consider the fitness of the constellation Lyra to indicate union. In Charles Anthon's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, we find the following account of the Lyra. He says:--

"Lyra. The Latin name _fides_, which was used for a lyre as well as a cithara, is probably the same as the Greek [Greek: sphides], which, according to Hesychius, signifies gut-strings; but Festus takes it to be the same as _fides_ (faith), _because the lyre was the symbol of harmony and unity among men_." The quotation from the Astronomicon of Manilius, presented in the following letter from Mr. Charles Francis Adams, grandson of Mr. John Adams, confirms the attributes above ascribed to the lyre, and its corresponding constellation "Lyra."

QUINCY, May 18, 1852.

DEAR SIR: Your letter of the fourth came upon me unprepared to answer it without investigations, which I have ever since been hoping to pursue, but thus far in vain. Not a moment has been at my command since I received it, and as I am now expecting every moment to depart for Was.h.i.+ngton, I fear that I must give up all idea of doing more hereafter, at least in season for any object of yours.

With the exception of a few letters to and from Generals Green, Sullivan, Parsons, and Ward, there are no memorials remaining in my hands of my grandfather's services while chairman of the Board of War. He had no time to copy or record papers, so that very few are left. I am not aware of the existence of any journal or other record of the action of the body, nor of any further history of it than is given in his lately published diary. I am, therefore, wholly unable to give you any light upon the question of the origin of the American colors.

With regard to the other design, of the eagle, with the lyre on its breast, and the stars of the constellation Lyra, I can only say that I possess the seal which was the original form in which the device was presented. There it has the motto, _Nunc sidera ducit_, taken from the Astronomicon of Manilius, describing the effect of the Lyre of Orpheus,

"At Lyra diductis per coelum cornibus inter Sidera conspicitur, qua quondam ceperat Orpheus Omne quod attigerat, cantu, manesque per ipsos Fecit iter, domuit que infernas carmine leges. Hinc coelestis honos, similisque potentia causae: Tunc silvas et saxa trahens, nunc sidera ducit, Et rapit immensum mundi revolubilis...o...b..m."

II. 331-337.

It is my opinion that, although this last line does not appear, my father had it in his mind when applying the device to the American pa.s.sport, but I have not had the leisure to look for any explanation he may have himself left of it. His papers are voluminous, and I have barely as yet glanced at any part of their contents. This must be my apology for sending you so unsatisfactory a reply.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

(Signed,) CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

The following is a translation of the above quotation:--

Conspicuous among the stars, its horns wide spread over the heavens, is the Lyre, with which Orpheus was wont to captivate everything to which he addressed his song, and even made a journey through Hades itself, and put to sleep the infernal laws. Hence, its celestial honor; and, by the same power with which it then drew rocks and trees along, it now leads the stars, and _whirls along the immense orb of the revolving world_.

This last line shows that the constellation Lyra, as an emblem of union for the United States, would have been an amplification of the attribute of "fascination" ascribed to the Rattlesnake, as an emblem of union for the United States, in the account we have already given of the Rattlesnake as such, in describing the standard of the commander-in-chief of the American navy; for the constellation Lyra would not only imply "that those who consider the liberty and blessings which America affords, and once come over to her, never afterwards leave her, but spend their lives with her," but that by their union and harmony the United States would "whirl along the immense orb of the revolving world," to follow their example in their forms of government.

Having thus shown how appropriate the constellation Lyra would have been as an emblem of the union of the United States, we proceed to ascertain if the first flag displayed under the resolution of June 14, 1777, bore that constellation. In Trumbull's picture of the surrender of Burgoyne, and Peale's picture of Was.h.i.+ngton, the thirteen stars are represented as arranged in a circle; it now remains to show the existence of some record exhibiting a connection between the constellation Lyra and the circle of thirteen stars.

We find this record on a form for a pa.s.sport of the United States, prepared under Mr. John Quincy Adams, when Secretary of State, in 1820, which form is now in use. In adopting the form in question, the arms of the United States, previously used on U.S. pa.s.sports, were replaced by a circle of thirteen stars surrounding an eagle, holding in his beak the constellation Lyra, and the motto, _Nunc sidera ducit_.

Mr. W. J. Stone, of Was.h.i.+ngton City, gives the following account of the preparation of the device above described, and presented in the vignette to the t.i.tle-page. In it, the constellation Lyra is represented as radiating into a circle of thirteen stars.

MOUNT PLEASANT, WAs.h.i.+NGTON CITY, May 8, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR: I find, on examination, that on the 25th of August, 1820, I engraved for the Department of State, by order of J. Q.

Adams, Secretary of State, a plate for a pa.s.sport, at the head of which was a spread eagle, drawn to encompa.s.s the constellation Lyra.

The drawing was made by me, according to particular verbal directions given by Mr. Adams. I have a distinct recollection of having submitted the drawing to Mr. Adams, for approval, previous to engraving.

Very respectfully, your obedt. servt.

(Signed,) W. J. STONE.

Had not this device been subst.i.tuted, on the form for a United States pa.s.sport, for the arms of the United States, by Mr. John Quincy Adams, we should not consider the constellation Lyra, radiating into a circle of thirteen stars, as having any special meaning; but as, at the time the circle of thirteen stars was introduced into the flag of the United States as an emblem of union, his father, Mr. John Adams, was chairman of the Board of War, we think it has.

On page 6, vol. iii. of the _Life and Writings of John Adams_, we find the following entry in his journal:--

"The duties of this Board kept me in continual employment, not to say drudgery, from the 12th of June 1776, till the 11th of November 1777." Again: "Other gentlemen attended as they pleased, but, as I was chairman, or as they were pleased to call it, president, I must never be absent."

A change being contemplated in the emblem of union in the flag, the Board of War would, doubtless, have had charge of the preparation of the subst.i.tute; and from the above, we perceive the chairman must have been particularly connected with its preparation.

We have thus presented the data upon which is based the conclusion that the constellation Lyra was originally proposed for the union of our Flag, in 1777, at the time the circle of thirteen stars was adopted.

The reasons for that conclusion are the following:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pl. III.]

It was a Union flag that was to be altered. The United States having become independent of Great Britain, the British emblem of union was no longer appropriate; some other emblem of union was to be subst.i.tuted.

The constellation Lyra was a time-honored emblem of union. The language of the resolution of June 14, 1777, evidently has reference to such an emblem, representing a constellation. The Lyra was not adopted. A circle of thirteen stars was. At this time, Mr. John Adams was chairman of the Board of War.

Mr. John Adams's son became Secretary of State in 1820. Striking out the arms of the United States, he presented on the pa.s.sport a device, representing the constellation Lyra radiating into a circle of stars--the stars thirteen in number. At this time there were twenty-one States in the Union--hence this circle of thirteen stars referred to an earlier day. The first instance of a circle of thirteen stars being used as a national device, was in the U. S. Flag, and its being presented on the pa.s.sport must have referred to that use of it, as const.i.tuting it a well-known emblem of the United States, indicative of their union, while the constellation Lyra, occupying the centre of this circle, indicates the origin of the circle of stars, as an emblem of union "representing a new constellation," in that time-honored emblem of union. The other circ.u.mstances we have adduced point to Mr. John Adams as the source from which his son derived his information. We suppose the circle of stars was preferred to the Lyra because it indicated the perpetuity of the Union, which was distinctly intimated by the Rattlesnake Standard, laid aside when the flag of the United States, commonly called the Stars and Stripes, was adopted. It may not be improper to observe that these deductions are in keeping with the general rules, presented in our Introduction, as deduced from the practices of nations relative to national emblems.

Compare Fig. 6, Plate II., the Flag of the United States, as first presented under the resolution of June 14, 1777, with Fig. 1, Plate III., the flag as we suppose it to have been proposed when Mr. John Adams was chairman of the Board of War, and both of the above with the vignette to the t.i.tle-page, the device introduced into the pa.s.sport in _lieu_ of the arms of the United States, by Mr. John Q. Adams, when Secretary of State.

In making these comparisons, the eagle, only adopted for the arms of the United States in 1782, must be kept out of view, or rather considered as having no part in the question about the stars.

In the preceding pages, we have established the origin of the part of the flag called "the union," also that of the circle of stars as an emblem for that union, together with that of the stripes, as clearly as a.n.a.logy will enable us so to do. As corroborating the views we have advanced, we now present to the reader the reports on the adoption of the arms of the United States, copied by permission from unpublished records of the State Department, from which it appears that certain of those who prepared the devices for the Flag of the United States, were also engaged in the preparation of the device for a Great Seal.

"JOURNALS OF CONGRESS."

"1776--_page_ 248.

"_July 4._ Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams, and Mr. Jefferson, be a committee to prepare a device for a Great Seal for the United States of America.

"1776--_page_ 321.

"_Aug. 10._ The Committee appointed to prepare the Device for a Great Seal for the United States brought in the same, with an explanation thereof; ordered to lie on the table.

"No. 1. _Copy of a Report made Aug. 10, 1776._

"The Great Seal should on one side have the arms of the United States of America, which arms should be as follows:--