Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1892 — BIRTHDAY OF THE FLAG. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BIRTHDAY OF THE FLAG.

sane 14, 1777, Ushered the Stars and Stripes Into the World. The Quartermaster General of the Army has formulated a report, with a. lot of history regarding the origin md gradual development of the Stars

and Stripes. The clerks whom he set at work on the subject discovered that on June 14, 1777, the Congress, in session at Philadelphia, adopted 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, in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” The thirteen stripes had been used before by the Philadelphia Light Horse, in 1775, but the stripes were alternate blue and white. Mrs. John Ross, who did upholstering on Arch street, is supposed to have been the maker of the first flag containing the stars and stripes. Although the resolution of June 14 was not promulgated by Congress until September 3, the flag was carried at the battle of the Brandywine on September 11. And then, from time to time in the nation’s history, stars were added to the galaxy of the field of blue, as new States were formed. A resolution providing for such changes was adopted in Congress April 4, 1818?. Otherwise no change has been made.