The flags of the British colonies are the same as those of the mother country, but differentiated by the badge of the colony being placed in the centre of the flag if it is the Union Jack, or in the fly if it be the blue or red ensign. Examples of these are shown in the Plate, where the blue ensign illustrated is that of New Zealand, the device of the colony being the southern cross in the fly. Precisely the same flag, with a large six-pointed star, emblematic of the six states immediately under the union, forms the flag of the federated commonwealth of Australia. The red ensign shown is that of the Dominion of Canada, the device in the fly being the armorial bearings of the Dominion. As the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, as the representative of royalty, flies the Union Jack with a harp in the centre, or the viceroy of India flies the same flag with, in the centre, the badge of the order of the Star of India, so too colonial governors or high commissioners fly the union flag with the arms of the colony they preside over on a white shield in the centre and surrounded by a laurel wreath. In the case of Canada the wreath, however, is not of laurel but of maple, which is the special emblem of the Dominion.
French.—To come to flags of other countries, nowhere have historical events caused so much change in the standards and national ensigns of a country as in the case of France. The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour. The tricolour was introduced at the time of the Revolution, but the origin of this flag and its colours is a disputed question. Some maintain that the intention was to combine in the flag the blue of the Chape de St Martin, the red of the oriflamme, and the white flag of the Bourbons. By others the colours are said to be those of the city of Paris. Yet again, other authorities assert that the flag is copied from the shield of the Orleans family as it appeared after Philippe Égalité had knocked off the fleurs-de-lis. The tricolour is divided vertically into three parts of equal width—blue, white and red, the red forming the fly, the white the middle, and the blue the hoist of the flag. During the first and second empires the tricolour became the imperial standard, but in the centre of the white stripe was placed the eagle, whilst all three stripes were richly powdered over with the golden bees of the Napoleons. The tricolour is now the sole flag of France.
American.—Before the Declaration of Independence the flags of those colonies which now form the United States of America were very various. In the early days of New England the Puritans objected to the red cross of St George, not from any disloyalty to the mother country, but from a conscientious objection to what they deemed an idolatrous symbol. By the year 1700 most of the colonies had devised badges to distinguish their vessels from those of England and of each other. In the early stages of the revolution each state adopted a flag of its own; thus, that of Massachusetts bore a pine tree, South Carolina displayed a rattlesnake, New York had a white flag with a black beaver, and Rhode Island a white flag with a blue anchor upon it. Even after the Declaration of Independence, and the introduction of the stars and stripes, the latter underwent many changes in the manner of their arrangement before taking the position at present established. In 1775 a committee was appointed to consider the question of a single flag for the thirteen states. It recommended that the union be retained in the upper corner next to the staff, the remainder of the field of the flag to be of thirteen horizontally disposed stripes, alternately red and white. This flag, curiously enough, was precisely the same as the flag of the old Honourable East India Company. On the 14th of June 1777 congress resolved “that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” This was the origin of the national flag, but at first, as the number of the stripes were unequal, the flag very often varied, sometimes having seven white and six red stripes, and at other times seven red and six white, and it was not for some considerable time that it was authoritatively laid down that the latter arrangement was the one to be adopted. It has also been held that the stars and stripes of the American national flag, as well as the eagle, were suggested by the crest and arms of the Washington family. The latter supposition is absurd, for the Washington crest was a raven. The Washington arms were a white shield having two horizontal red bars, and above these a row of three red stars. This might, by a stretch of imagination, be supposed to have inspired the original idea of the flag which was that each state in the Union should be represented in the national flag by a star and stripe. Naturally other states coming into the Union expected the same privilege. After Vermont in 1790 and Kentucky in 1792 had entered the Union, the stars and stripes were changed in number from thirteen to fifteen. Later on other states joined, and soon the flag came to consist of twenty stars and stripes. It was, however, found objectionable to be constantly altering the national flag, and in the year 1818 it was determined to go back to the original thirteen stripes, but to place a star for each state in the blue union canton in the top corner of the flag next the staff. Thus the stars always show the exact number of states that are in the Union, whilst the stripes denote the original number of the states that formed the union.[1] The presidential flag of the president of the United States is an eagle on a blue field, bearing on its breast a shield displaying stripes, and above the national motto E pluribus unum, and a design of the stars of the original thirteen states of the union.
Other Countries.—The most general and important of the various national flags are figured in the Plate. In the top line representing Great Britain are shown the royal standard, the Union Jack (the national flag), the white ensign of the royal navy, the blue ensign of government service, and the red ensign of the commercial marine, colonial flags being shown in the case of the two latter ensigns. The two Japanese flags shown are the man-of-war ensign—a rising sun, generally known as the sun-burst—and the flag of the mercantile marine, in which the red ball is used without the rays and placed in the centre of the white field. The imperial standard of Japan is a golden chrysanthemum on a red field. It is essential that the chrysanthemum should invariably have sixteen petals. Heraldry in Japan is of a simpler character than that of Europe, and is practically limited to the employment of “Mon,” which correspond very nearly to the “crests” of European heraldry. The great families of Japan possess at least one, and in many cases even three, “Mon.” The imperial family use two, the one Kiku no go Mon (the august chrysanthemum crest) and Kiri no go Mon (the august Kiri crest). The first represents the sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum, and, although the use of the chrysanthemum flower as a badge is not necessarily confined to the imperial family, they alone have the right to use the sixteen-petalled form. If used by any other family, or society or corporation, it must be with a number of petals less or more than sixteen. The second imperial “Mon” is composed of three leaves and three flower spikes of the Kiri (Paulownia imperialis). This, however, is not displayed as an official emblem, that being reserved for the chrysanthemum. The Kiri is used for more private purposes. For example, the chrysanthemum figures in the imperial standard, and the Kiri “Mon” adorns the harness of the emperor’s horses. It is very probable that the chrysanthemum crest did not originally represent the chrysanthemum flower at all but the sun with sixteen rays, and it will be noticed that in the “sun-burst” flag the sun’s rays are sixteen in number. The use of the number sixteen is probably traceable to Chinese geomantic ideas.
The German imperial navy and mercantile marine flags are next depicted. The “iron cross” in the navy flag is that of the Teutonic Order, and dates from the close of the 12th century. For five centuries black and white have been the Hohenzollern colours, and the first verse of the German war song, Ich bin ein Preusse, runs:—
| “I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner? Before me floats my flag of black and white! My fathers died for freedom, ’twas their manner, So say these colours floating in your sight.” |
The mercantile marine tricolour of black, white and red is emblematic of the joining of the Hohenzollern black and white with the red and white, which was the ensign of the Hanseatic League. This flag came into being when the North German Confederacy was established (November 25th, 1867) at the close of the Austro-Prussian War.
The German imperial standard has the iron cross with its white border displayed on a yellow field, diapered over in each of the four quarters with three black eagles and a crown. In the centre of the cross is a shield bearing the arms of Prussia surmounted by a crown, and surrounded by a collar of the Order of the Black Eagle. In the four arms of the crown are the legend Gott mit uns 1870. The United States flag and the tricolour of France have already been fully dealt with, and in both countries the one flag is common to both men-of-war and ships of the mercantile marine.
The next depicted are the imperial navy and the mercantile marine flags of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In the latter the introduction of the green half stripe denotes the combination of the Austrian red, white and red with the Hungarian red, white and green. The shields with which the flag is charged contain respectively the arms of Austria and of Hungary. The former shield only is borne on the man-of-war ensign, and displays the heraldic device of the ancient dukes of Austria, which dates back to the year 1191. The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire. The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black.
The green, white and red Italian tricolour was adopted in 1805, when Napoleon I. formed Italy into one kingdom. It was adopted again in 1848 by the Nationalists of the peninsula, accepted by the king of Sardinia, and, charged by him with the arms of Savoy, it became the flag of a united Italy. The man-of-war flag is precisely similar to that of the mercantile marine, except that in the case of the former the shield of Savoy is surmounted by a crown. The royal standard is a blue flag. In the centre is a black eagle crowned and displaying on its breast the arms of Savoy, the whole surrounded by the collar of the Most Sacred Annunziata, the third in rank of all European orders. In each corner of the flag is the royal crown.