THE AMERICAN EAGLE.
Our bald headed eagle, so called because the feathers on the top of the head are white, was named the Washington eagle by Audubon. Like Washington it was brave and fearless, and as his name and greatness is known the world over, so the greatest of birds can soar to the heights beyond all others.
In 1785 it became the emblem of the United States.
It is used on the tips of flag staffs, on coins, on the United States seals, and on the shield of liberty.
BANNERS AND STANDARDS.
It is not generally known that the tassels which are pendent customarily from the upper part of banners and standards, and the fringe which surrounds them are relics of the practice of observing sacred emblems. They originated in pagan devices and the garments of priests and were consecrated to specific forms of worship.
Sacred history is full of instances of the consecration of tassels and peculiar fringes to special sacerdotal uses. Blue was early the emblem of purity and innocence and that fact accounts for the predominance of that color in the ecclesiastical badges of these early times. When the use of the tassels passed into profane customs, they were used as ornaments for national standards and for royal girdles, and it was not infrequent that they were first blessed by the priests. It has followed naturally that this use has continued up to the present time, although now it is retained probably because of the artistic effect of the swinging pendants.