The Colonial flag of New Amsterdam (substantially the present arms of New York City) was carried by armed vessels sailing out of New York—a beaver being the principal figure, indicative of both the industry of the Dutch people and the wealth of the fur trade. A month after Bunker Hill, Putnam displayed a flag with a red ground, having on one side the Connecticut motto and on the other side the words then recognized as the motto of Massachusetts, "An Appeal to Heaven."

The earliest vessels sailing under Washington's authority displayed the pine-tree flag, though combinations of that and other flags were sometimes used. Many privateers, however, adopted a device consisting of a mailed hand grasping a bundle of thirteen arrows. An early flag of the Southern States was designed by Colonel Moultrie and was displayed at Charleston in September, 1775. It was blue, with a white crescent in the upper corner next the staff; afterward the words "LIBERTY OR DEATH" were added.

At Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1776, Washington displayed a flag consisting of thirteen stripes of red and white with the British Union Jack in a blue canton in place of the stars, the stripes being emblematic of the union of the thirteen Colonies against British oppression. The rattlesnake flag was often used, the snake being coiled to strike, and the motto, "Don't tread on me." The snake's rattles usually numbered thirteen.

No official action was taken with regard to a national flag until June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress passed a resolution, "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." The origin of this design has been the subject of much controversy, which has left the subject unsettled, though many writers have considered the design to have been suggested by the coat of arms of the Washington family, which contains both the stars and the stripes.

After the adoption by the Continental Congress of the design, a committee comprising George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross called upon Mrs. Betsy Ross and requested her to undertake the sewing of it. She accepted, and offered the suggestion, adopted, that five-pointed stars be used in the design instead of the six-pointed ones.

On January 13, 1794, Vermont having been admitted to the Union in 1791 and Kentucky in 1792, Congress enacted, "That from and after the first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninetyfive, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field," the intention apparently being to add both a stripe and a star for each new State admitted.

On April 4, 1818, the number of States having increased to twenty, Congress enacted that the number of stripes be reduced to thirteen, to typify the

original thirteen States; that the number of stars be increased to twenty; and that “on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag, and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July next succeeding such admission."

The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen States-New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The States are given in the sequence in which they are referred to in the Constitution, with regard to representation in Congress. Whether or not this has any meaning, regarding a stripe representing any particular State, is not known.

The arrangement of the stars on the flag is regulated by an executive order, issued October 29, 1912, providing for forty-eight stars to be arranged in six horizontal rows of eight stars each. Starting in the upper left-hand corner and reading each row from left to right, gives the star of each State in the order of ratification of the Constitution and admission to the Union, as follows:

First row: Delaware, 1; Pennsylvania, 2; New Jersey, 3; Georgia, 4; Connecticut, 5; Massachusetts, 6; Maryland, 7; and South Carolina, 8.

Second row: New Hampshire, 9; Virginia, 10; New York, 11; North Carolina, 12; Rhode Island, 13; Vermont, 14; Kentucky, 15; and Tennessee, 16.

Third row: Ohio, 17; Louisiana, 18; Indiana, 19; Mississippi, 20; Illinois, 21; Alabama, 22; Maine, 23; Missouri, 24.

Fourth row: Arkansas, 25; Michigan, 26; Florida, 27; Texas, 28; Iowa, 29; Wisconsin, 30; California, 31; Minnesota, 32.

Fifth row: Oregon, 33; Kansas, 34; West Virginia, 35; Nevada, 36; Nebraska, 37; Colorado, 38; North Dakota, 39; and South Dakota, 40.

Sixth row: Montana, 41; Washington, 42; Idaho, 43; Wyoming, 44; Utah, 45; Oklahoma, 46; New Mexico, 47; and Arizona, 48.

The colors of the flag are explained as follows:

The red is for valor, zeal and fervency; the white, for hope, purity, cleanliness of life and rectitude of conduct; the blue, the color of heaven, for reverence to God, loyalty, sincerity, justice and truth.

The star, an ancient symbol of India, Persia, and Egypt, symbolizes dominion and sovereignty, as well as lofty aspirations. The constellation of the stars within the union, one star for each State, is emblematic of our Federal Constitution which reserves to the States their individual sovereignty except as to rights delegated by them to the Federal Government.

George Washington explained the symbolism of the flag as follows: "We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty."

The Flag of the United States, adopted by Congress June 14, 1777, was first flown August 3, 1777, at Fort Schuyler, New York, later known as Fort Stanwix. The flag, an improvised one, was made of a soldier's white shirt, a woman's red petticoat, and a blue cloth from a cloak. Fort Stanwix was built in 1758, by Brigadier Stanwix, on the site of the present Rome, New York, and near the spot where another fort, soon abandoned, had been built in 1756. Here in the fall of 1768, a treaty was negotiated by Sir William Johnston with the Six Nations, about 3,200 Indians being present.

Soon afterward the fort was dismantled; but in 1776 it was rebuilt and named Fort Schuyler, in honor of General Philip Schuyler. In the following year, 1777, Colonel Peter Gansevoort, with a garrison of about 750, defended and held Fort Schuyler, formerly Fort Stanwix, against St. Leger with a force of about 1,700 British regulars, Tories, and Indians, from August 3 to August 22, when the siege was raised by the arrival of Benedict Arnold with re-enforcements.

Fort Schuyler was destroyed by flood and fire in 1781, but was subsequently rebuilt again as Fort Stanwix, and here, on October 22, 1784, Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, acting on behalf of the Continental Congress negotiated an important treaty with the Six Nations.

The flag was first carried in battle at Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania, on the Brandywine Creek, September 11, 1777 (Battle of the Brandywine) between