Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts Part 12

SECTION VIII

WHAT A GIRL SCOUT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FLAG

_We take the star from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty._--_George Was.h.i.+ngton._

The American flag is the symbol of the one-ness of the nation: when a Girl Scout salutes the flag, therefore, she salutes the whole country.

The American Flag is known as "Old Glory," "Stars and Stripes,"

"Star-Spangled Banner," and "The Red, White and Blue."

The American flag today consists of red and white stripes, with the blue field, sometimes known as the Union in the upper left-hand corner, with forty-eight white stars. The thirteen stripes stand for the thirteen original States--New Hamps.h.i.+re, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The stars stand for the States now in the Union.

The colors of the flag are red, representing valor; white, representing hope, purity and truth; blue, representing loyalty, sincerity and justice. The five-pointed star, which is used, tradition says, at Betsy Ross' suggestion, is the sign of infinity.

History of the American Flag

We think of ourselves as a young country, but we have one of the oldest written Const.i.tutions under which a Nation operates, and our flag is one of the oldest in existence.

When our forefathers came from Europe to settle in this country, which is now the United States, they brought with them the flags of their home countries, and planted them on the new territory in symbol of taking possession of it in the name of their liege kings and lands. Gradually the colonies came to belong to England, and the Union Jack became the flag of all, with the thirteen colonies represented by thirteen stripes and the Union Jack in the corner. This flag was known as the Grand Union or Cambridge Flag, and was displayed when Was.h.i.+ngton first took command of the army at Cambridge. It was raised on December 3, 1775, on the _Alfred_, flags.h.i.+p of the new little American Navy, by the senior Lieutenant of the s.h.i.+p, John Paul Jones, who later defended it gallantly in many battles at sea.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia and the United Colonies dissolved all ties that bound them to England and became an independent nation--the United States. It was immediately necessary to adopt a new flag, as the new nation would not use the Union Jack. Tradition says that in the latter part of May, 1776, George Was.h.i.+ngton, Robert Morris and Colonel Ross called on Betsy Ross in Philadelphia to make the first flag, which they designed. They kept the thirteen stripes of the Colonial flag, but replaced the Union Jack by a blue field bearing thirteen stars, arranged in a circle.

The birthday of the flag was June 14, 1777, when Congress pa.s.sed this resolution: Resolved: That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes; alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a constellation.

The first American unfurling the Stars and Stripes over a wars.h.i.+p was John Paul Jones when he took command of the _Ranger_ in June, 1777.

Tradition says that this flag was made for John Paul Jones by the young ladies of Portsmouth Harbor, and that it was made for him from their own and their mothers' gowns. It was this flag, in February, 1778, that had the honor of receiving from France the first official salute accorded by a foreign nation to the Stars and Stripes.

It was first carried into battle at the Battle of Brandywine in September, 1777, when Lafayette fought with the Colonists and was wounded. This was the famous flag made out of a soldier's white s.h.i.+rt, a woman's red petticoat, and an officer's blue cloak. A famous flag now in the National Museum in Was.h.i.+ngton is the Flag of fifteen stars and stripes, which floated over Fort McHenry--near Baltimore--in the War of 1812, and which Francis Scott Key (imprisoned on a British s.h.i.+p) saw "by the dawn's early light" after watching through the night "the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air" as proof that the fort had not fallen to the enemy. The next day he wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."

It is said that peace has its victories as well as war, and Scouts will want to know that our flag flew from the first vessel ever propelled by steam--Robert Fulton's _Clermont_.

It was carried by Wilbur Wright on his first successful airplane flight in France.

It was the flag planted at the North Pole by Robert Peary.

It was the National emblem painted upon the first airplane to make the transatlantic flight, May, 1919.

At first, when states came into the Union, a new stripe and a new star were added to the flag, but it was soon evident that the added stripes would make it very unwieldly. So on April 4, 1818, Congress pa.s.sed this act to establish the flag of the United States:

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted ... That from and after the 4th of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union have twenty stars, white on a blue field.

"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that, on 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 4th day of July succeeding such admission."

In 1917 after the United States entered the World War, the Stars and Stripes were placed with the flags of the Allies in the great English Cathedral of St. Paul's in London, and on April 20, 1917, the flag was hoisted beside the English flag over the House of Parliament as a symbol that the two great English-speaking nations of the world had joined hands in the cause of human brotherhood.

RESPECT DUE THE FLAG

1. The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. It should not be displayed on stormy days or left out over night, except during war. Although there is no authoritative ruling which compels civilians to lower the flag at sundown, good taste should impel them to follow the traditions of the Army and Navy in this sundown ceremonial. Primarily, the flag is raised to be seen and secondarily, the flag is something to be guarded, treasured, and so tradition holds it shall not be menaced by the darkness. To leave the flag out at night, unattended, is proof of s.h.i.+ftlessness, or at least carelessness.

2. At retreat, sunset, civilian spectators should stand at attention.

Girl Scouts, if in uniform, may give their salute.

When the national colors are pa.s.sing on parade or in review, Scouts should, if walking, halt, and if sitting, rise and stand at attention.

When the flag is stationary it is not saluted.

An old, torn, or soiled flag should not be thrown away, but should be destroyed, preferably by burning.

The law specifically forbids the use of and the representation of the flag in any manner or in any connection with merchandise for sale.

When the "Star-Spangled Banner" is played or sung, stand and remain standing in silence until it is finished.

The flag should, on being retired, never be allowed to touch the ground.

Regulations for Flying the Flag

1. The flag should not be raised before sunrise, nor be allowed to remain up after sunset.

2. In placing the flag at half mast, it should be raised first to full mast, and then lowered to the half mast position, from which it should again be raised to full mast before lowering.

3. The flag should never be draped.

4. When the flag is hung against a wall, the blue field should be in the upper left corner if the stripes are horizontal; in the upper right corners if the stripes are vertical.

5. In the case of flags hung across the street it is necessary to hang them by the points of the compa.s.s instead of right or left, because the right or left naturally varies according to whether the spectator is going up or down the street. When the flag is hung across a north and south street, the blue fields should be toward the east, the rising sun, when across an east and west street, the field should be toward the north.

6. The flags of two or more nations displayed together should always be hung at the same level, and should be on separate staffs or halyards.

7. In the United States, when the American flag is carried with one other flag, it should be at the right. When it is carried with two other flags, it should be in the middle.

8. When the American flag is hung against a wall with other flags, it is placed at the spectator's right, if it is one of two; and in the middle, if it is one of three.

9. The flag at half mast is a sign of mourning.

10. The flag flown upside down is a signal of distress.

11. On Memorial Day, May 30, the flag is flown at half mast during the morning, and is raised at noon to full mast for the rest of the day.

Patriotic Songs for Girl Scouts

"The Star-Spangled Banner"

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming!

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?