Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/258

250 FLAG worn in the crusades by English soldiers, which name became in time transferred to the cross itself, and finally to the flag bearing the cross. Others derive it from Jac., the abbre- viation of Jacobus, the Latin form of James. In the 12th century the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleurs de lis. Henry IV., the founder of the house of Bour- bon, adopted the white flag charged with the escutcheon of his family, three golden fleurs de lis on a blue shield. This is the flag contended for so earnestly by the count de Ohambord. It was succeeded early in the revolution by the tricolor, which was constituted the national standard by law in 1792. This is generally said to be the union of the blue banner of St. Martin, the red oriflamme of St. Denis, and the cornette blanche which succeeded the latter ; but it is probable that its adoption was accidental. The red and blue, the colors of the city of Pa- ris, were chosen first, and the white of the royal standard was added afterward. When this flag was first displayed there was no accord in the arrangement of the colors, and the stripes were sometimes placed horizontally instead of vertically. The present mode was prescribed finally by law. Napoleon adopted for the im- perial standard the tricolor sprinkled with gold- en bees and charged with the eagle of France. At the restoration the white flag returned with royalty. The hundred days brought back the tricolor, but the white flag again succeeded it in 1815, and on April 18, 1816, it was de- creed to be the national standard of France. The revolution of 1830 restored the tricolor, and it has since remained the national flag. The imperial standard of Germany is white charged with a black cross, with the black eagle of the empire at its intersection. In the dexter canton is the cross of Prussia on a black, white, and red field. The Russian imperial standard is yellow charged with the double-headed eagle of Oonstantine the Great, symbolical of the Eastern and Western empires. This emblem was adopted by Ivan I. on his marriage with a princess of the Greek imperial house. On the breast of the eagle, which is black, are embla- zoned the ancient arms of Russia, St. George and the dragon, on a red field, now the arms of the city of Moscow. The imperial standard of Austria is yellow also, charged with the double-headed eagle of the Roman empire, but it has an indented border of gold, silver, blue, and black. The Austro-Hungarian national ensign is formed of three equal horizontal bars, the chief red, the middle white, and the base red in the dexter half and green on the fly. The green is added for Hungary, the national colors of which are red, white, and green. The middle bar displays a shield, charged with red, white, and red, surmounted by the imperial crown. The royal standard of Italy is green, white, and red, in equal vertical bars, the red to the fly ; on the white are the arms of Savoy surmounted by the crown. The royal standard of Spain in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella displayed the arms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, the Two Sicilies, and Granada. Under the Bourbons it combined the arms of Castile, Leon, Granada, and the fleurs de lis of Bourbon. The standard fell with the monarchy, and in Decem- ber, 1873, the republic ordered the removal from the naval ensign of the royal insignia. The royal standard of Portugal is red, charged with the arms and crown. The royal standard of the Ne- therlands is the same as the merchant flag, with the royal arms on the white bar. The Belgian royal standard is the same as the ensign, with the arms on the yellow division. The ensigns of Sweden and Norway are formed of the united flags of the two countries. The flag of Sweden is blue with a yellow cross, that of Norway red with a blue cross. The two, combined in the manner of the union jack of Great Britain, are cantoned in the national ensigns. The Danish merchant flag is the same in color and device as the naval ensign, but is rectangular. The same remark applies to the merchant flag of Sweden. The commercial flag of Greece is the same as the naval, omitting the crown on the cross. The royal standard of Greece is blue charged with a white cross, the canton of the ensign. The crescent and star of Turkey was the device of Diana Byzantina, the patroness of Byzantium, and was hoisted first by Moham- med II., after the capture of Constantinople. The English colonies in America displayed at first the flag of the mother country, the cross of St. George. In 1636 Endicott, the Puritan governor of Massachusetts, cut the cross out of the banner to show his hatred of Romanism. In 1637 the king's arms were substituted for the obnoxious emblem ; but in 1651, the parliament of the commonwealth having revived the old standard of St. George, it was ordered by the general court to be used on all necessary occa- sions. Various modifications were in use at different times. Sometimes the field was white charged with the cross, sometimes red with the cross cantoned on a white field, and sometimes blue with the cross similarly cantoned; and occasionally a globe or a pine tree was depicted in the upper canton formed by the cross. The flag of New England under Sir Edmund Andros was white charged with St. George's cross, bearing in the centre the letters J. R. (Jacobus Rex) surmounted by the crown. In 1707 the union jack of King James was adopted, and distinctive colonial flags probably went out of use. In the beginning of the revolution a va- riety of flags were displayed in the revolted colonies. The " union flags " mentioned so fre- quently in the newspapers of 1774 were the ordinary English red ensigns bearing the union jack. These generally bore some patriotic motto, such as "Liberty," "Liberty and Prop- erty," "Liberty and Union," &c. After the battle of Lexington the Connecticut troops dis- played on their standards the arms of the colony with the motto Qui transtulit sustinet; and later, by act of the provincial congress, the regiments were distinguished by the colors of