Emblems have always played an interesting part in the history of nations. It may be recalled how in ancient times the Roman legions marched to conquest under eagle-adorned banners, how wars were waged for the red and the white roses, and how the Turk fought always under the figure of the crescent. Familiar today, among the many devices of kingdoms and of empires, are the lilies of France, the lion and crosses of England, the eagles of Germany and of Austria. Many and varied, too, were the emblems which in the course of the centuries floated over the land of America. Previous illustrations have shown Columbus bringing the banner of Spain, and the Pilgrim Fathers the colors of England; Canada long flew the lilies of France; and the old fort on Manhattan, before it spread to the breeze the Stars and Stripes, bore aloft Brst the Dutch and then the English ensign.
During the Colonial and Revolutionary periods, flags of various colors displaying devices other than the English emblem to which the colonists owed allegiance were made use of. The colors blue, red, and yellow and white were combined in patterns or stripes, the sketch of a pine tree together with the motto “LR>erty” or the legend “An Appeal to Heaven” appeared upon several of the Bags, while others bore the Liberty-tree in the center of the field and the words, “An Appeal to God.” In one of the great historical mural paintings to be seen upon the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington the Colonial troops are represented marching under a red flag emblazoned with a cross and a pine tree. Another Colonial flag is elsewhere pictured dying an anchor and the word “HOPE,” while still others, the words “Liberty and Union.” Upon the “Map” Liverpool pitcher which is presented in a previous chapter may be seen a sketch of a pine tree flag. The most popular device, however, to be displayed upon Colonial flags was a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike, together with the waming, “Don’t Tread On Me,” the rattles numbering thirteen, the number of the colonies, and, likewise typical of the colonies, each rattle distinct and at the same time joined to the others in defensive union. Upon one rattlesnake flag the tongue of the serpent was represented about to strike at the English emblems, the crosses of Saint George and Saint Andrew, while still another banner Haunted the challenge, “Liberty or Death.”
Previous to the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the new Republic, the emblems of the pine tree and the serpent were also intertwined upon Bags flown by the vessels of the American navy-an act of such audacity that it brought forth from an English journal the following comment: “A strange flag has lately appeared in our seas, bearing a pine tree with the portraiture of a rattle snake coiled up at its roots, with these daring words, "DON'T TREAD ON ME" we learn that the vessels bearing this Hag have a sort of commission from a society of people at Philadelphia calling themselves the Continental Congress.” From the character of the devices chosen by the colonists to represent them, it is not ditlicult to conclude that the decision to secure for themselves the blessings of Liberty and Union were present in the popular mind long before the actual struggle for them was undertaken.
When the War of the Revolution was at last concluded and the American people no longer were required to display the hated British ensign, one of the foremost considerations of the new Republic was to choose fitting emblems with which to signal its entrance into the family of nations. And, as Staffordshire potters were at that period manufacturing tableware for the American market, the novel designs were naturally made use of for decoration. It is to be regretted that the emblems were not reproduced in the glowing hues of the originals, but in blue alone, the favorite color then in use.
"O glorious flag! Red, white and blueSuch is the flag which, on June 14, 1777, the American Congress, in adopting the following Resolution: "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," voted should proclaim the United States of America.
Bright emblem of the pure and true;
O glorious group of clustering stars!
Ye lines of light, ye crimson bars!"
Whence sprang the notion of the stars and stripes which so happily represent the Republic ? One historian declares that the stripes were borrowed from the greatcoats of the Continental soldiers, who, minus uniforms, made use of stripes to distinguish the different grades; others affirm that the Dutch flag, whose stripes symbolize their own union against foreign oppression, furnished the inspiration. A more popular belief is, however, that the Stars and Stripes were taken from the Coat of Arms of George Washington, he who gave to the colonies the freedom of which the emblem is now a symbol.
The flag of the United States, a patriotic statesman declared, is "a whole national history." In its thirteen stripes may be numbered the thirteen colonies; the colors red and white are tokens of that daring spirit and of that purity of motive which achieved the Union; and the stars, thirteen in number upon the original banner, uniform in shape and size, typify the likeness of the several States, and, grouped upon the blue canopy of heaven, they represent the strength and oneness of the young Republic. George Washington ordered the first flag made, taking a sketch of it to the little upholstery shop of Mrs. Ross in Philadelphia, where for many years "Betsey" Ross continued its manufacture.
The flag flying thirteen stars and thirteen stripes was in use until the year 1791, when Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union, and trouble arose. How were the new States to figure on the flag? A new Act of Congress was passed by which, "to keep the citizens of those states in good humor," as one statesman argued, two stars were added to those already on the field, and the stripes were increased to fifteen. The flag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes may sometimes be found upon pieces of Staffordshire pottery, a few specimens (the "Martha Washington States plate" and the "States" platter, for example) naming the fifteen States of the Union, Vermont and Kentucky being among the number. After a few years, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana came into the sisterhood of the States, and the subject of the flag came up anew. "We might go on adding and altering the flag for one hundred years to come," complained a weary statesman. It was at the time of this perplexity that the present flag, exhibiting thirteen stripes alternate red and white to represent the original thirteen colonies, one star to be added to the field upon the admission into the Union of each new State, was adopted. At the present time, the star spangled banner flings forty-eight stars to the breeze.
The new-born Republic required a national Seal as well as a flag, and tentative designs for the great Seal of the United States were submitted by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Franklin went to the Bible for his inspiration and proposed Moses lifting his wand and dividing the Red Sea, Pharaoh and his chariot being overwhelmed by the waters. Adams favored a classical subject—Hercules resting upon his club after his labors (no doubt of forming the Union) were ended. Jefferson suggested that the children of Israel in the Wilderness might aptly represent the new nation in the wilderness of the West, adding to his design the motto, "E Pluribus Unum." Chosen committees proposed Liberty (a female figure) with stars and stripes, warriors, etc. The Seal finally adopted by Congress, however—an American, or bald-headed eagle upon whose breast an escutcheon bearing the Stars and Stripes of the flag is displayed—is quite unlike any of the proffered suggestions. One of the eagle's talons holds an olive branch, while the other grasps a bundle composed of thirteen arrows, branch and arrows denoting peace and war. A scroll inscribed E Pluribus Unum, meaning one government of many parts or states, floats from the eagle's beak, and thirteen stars appear in the crest. No figures are pictured at the sides of the device in the position of supporters, it having been no doubt deemed out of place for a nation choosing to be represented by that powerful bird to require any support other than its own native strength.
Several adaptations of the design of the Seal of the United States may be found in the illustrations. It would appear that the English designers oft-times took liberties with the new emblem, for the American eagle may be found perched upon the shield with the arrows and motto underneath him, or, with the shield used as a background for the decoration; in one design, entitled simply "America," the national bird is figured erect upon a globe, the shield upon his breast, and the arrows and olive branch in his talons. His attitude, wings raised and beak open as if in angry dispute, over his right to the portion of the globe he stands upon, may possibly be a sly joke of the English artist. A more exact copy of the great Seal may be seen upon the front of a Liverpool jug in a previous chapter, displaying "Washington in Glory."
A series of decorations reproducing the Arms of the States were printed by T. Mayer of Stoke-upon-Trent, and, framed in an attractive border of trumpet-flower sprays, surviving specimens are among the most highly prized pieces of old Staffordshire. One device, the Arms of New Hampshire, has never been found, search in this country and in England thus far failing to bring a specimen to light. It is believed to have been printed along with the others, all pieces of it, however, having been destroyed. In the "Arms" devices the emblems of Justice and Independence and the colors red, white and blue were frequently made use of, the States evidently wishing to embody in their individual Seals emblems of the principles for which the entire nation stood. A number of the States likewise incorporated symbols of their own particular life and activities.
As early as the year 1647, colony of Rhode Island provided that the "Seale of the Province shall be an ancker." Later on, the word Hope was added, and the design encircled with a scroll, the color of the anchor and motto being blue, the scroll red and field white. The emblem was no doubt adopted as a symbol of the freedom, both civil and religious, in which the faith of the early settlers of Rhode Island, supported by the spirit of Hope, was so firmy anchored.
The first Seal of the colony of Maryland, still in use, bears the Arms of her founder, Lord Baltimore. The design which the potters made use of, however, is a copy of the seal which was adopted in the year 1794 and displayed for a period of twenty-three years only. In a blaze of light stands a female figure of Justice holding aloft the scales of her office in one hand, while the other grasps an olive branch. The horn of plenty at the base of the design symbolized the fertility of Maryland's soil, and the ship at sea her extensive commerce.
The device of the Seal of Georgia adopted in the year 1798, is composed of three columns typifying Wisdom, Justice and Moderation—virtues which support the arch of the Constitution and uphold the laws of the young Republic. By the side of one of the columns stands a man with drawn sword—mute proclamation that the army of Georgia is ever ready to defend the Constitution of the Union.
Connecticut adopted as her Seal three grapevines laden with fruit, upon a white field, together with the motto, Qui transtulit sustinet. The design was selected as a memorial of the three plantations of Hartford, Windsor and Weathersfield which formed the original colony, and, as the motto explains, it was a witness of the pious faith of the settlers of Connecticut in the divine assurance that "He who transplanted the vines was able also to sustain them."
North Carolina's emblems are the Goddess of Liberty and the Greek goddess of the harvest, Ceres—symbols of North Carolina's faithfulness to the Constitution and of the natural productiveness of her soil. Liberty bears a wand topped with a liberty cap, while in her lap lies the scroll of the Declaration of Independence. Standing by her side, Ceres holds in one hand three ears of corn and in the other a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, overflowing with the fruits and flowers in which the State abounds.
South Carolina also chose an emblem typical of her soil—a single palmetto tree. From its branches hang two shields and at its root are ten spears; if to their total the tree itself is added, the result is the number thirteen. An English oak tree, pictured with roots above ground and branches lopped, lies at the foot of the palmetto— the power of England broken by the vigor of the young republic, the lopped branches signifying that the American colonies have deserted the parent stalk.
Pennsylvania's Arms embody three of the State's activities: a sheaf of wheat for her agriculture, a plow for her husbandry and a ship for her commerce. Over all, forming the crest, a bald eagle grasps in his beak a streamer bearing the words, Virtue, Liberty and Independence ; the supporters are two horses.
The Arms of New Jersey are three plows upon a white shield, Liberty and Ceres on either side as supporters and a horse's head the crest—Industry, Plenty and Independence.
New York, like Connecticut, went to her own beautiful landscape for a design, her Arms picturing the broad Hudson River flowing between level banks, two passing vessels, and, in the distance, the sun setting behind the Highlands. Above the shield is a globe surmounted with a heraldic eagle: Liberty stands on one side, her foot upon an overturned crown; while on the other side blinded Justice holds in either hand a sword and scales— tokens of deliverance from an oppressive royal yoke. Below the shield is Excelsior.
Massachusetts, possibly in memory of her first inhabitants, chose an Indian dressed in shirt and moccasins to represent her. At one side of the Indian's head is a star, one of the United States of America, and the crest is an arm grasping a sword. The motto, Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam, is one of the following lines written two centuries ago by Algernon Sydney in an album of the Public Library of Copenhagen, Denmark:
Manus haec inimica tyrannis,The English translation is:
Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam.
This hand, the rule of tyrants to oppose,The Arms of Delaware recite the homely story of her agriculture and her commerce—a blue shield divided by a white band into two equal parts, a cow occupying the lower division, a sheaf of wheat and a bundle of leaf tobacco the upper; a ship under full sail forms the crest. The supporters are a mariner and a hunter, beneath whose feet is the motto Liberty And Independence.
Seeks with the sword fair freedom's soft repose.
Virtue, robed as an Amazon, a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, appears upon the Arms of Virginia. She stands upon the form of a prostrate man who may be said to represent Tyranny, a crown having fallen from his head, one hand still grasping a scourge and the other a broken chain. The motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis, So shall perish all tyrants, upon a scroll at the foot of justice, gives voice to Virginia's patriotic sentiments.
(From The Blue-China Book by Ada Walker Camehl, 1916.)
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