The only account we have of the flag of the lord high admiral being carried at sea by an individual not of the blood royal is in the Memoirs of Sir John Leake, which say, "The Earl of Berkeley being then (21st March, 1719) vice-admiral of Great Britain, and first lord commissioner of the admiralty, endeavored to come as near the lord high admiral as possible both in power and state; by a particular warrant from the crown he hoisted the lord high admiral's flag, and had three captains appointed under him as lord high admiral, Littleton, then vice-admiral of the white, being his first captain." The Earl of Berkeley was one of fortune's favorites. As Lord Dursley, at the age of twenty he commanded the Lichfield, 50, it being his second command. When twenty-three he commanded the Boyne, 80; at twenty-seven he was vice-admiral of the blue, and a few months afterward vice-admiral of the white; and the following year, being then only twenty-eight, vice-admiral of the red. At the age of thirty-eight he hoisted his flag on the Dorsetshire as lord high admiral, being then actually vice-admiral of England and first lord of the admiralty. He died near Rochelle, in France, Aug. 17, 1736, aged fifty-five. The lord high admiral's flag is entitled to a salute of nineteen guns. The third flag, that of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, is the Union Jack, having in the centre of the crosses a blue shield emblazoned with a golden harp. This flag is worn at the main of any ship in which his Excellency may embark within the Irish waters or in St. George's Channel, and is entitled to the same salute as that of the lord high admiral. The fourth flag, the Union, or Union Jack, in which are blended the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, emblematic of the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, is appropriated to the admiral of the fleet of the United Kingdom, and is worn at the main, and entitled to a salute of seventeen guns. Somewhere before 1692, Sir Francis Wheeler, Knt., a rear-admiral, sent to command in chief in the West Indies, was granted the privilege of wearing "the Union flag" at the maintop-masthead "as soon as he was clear of soundings. "1 Fifth in rank is the cross of St. George, a white flag with a red cross, the sign of the old crusaders, now worn by the admirals of the royal navy at the main, by vice-admirals at the fore, and by rearadmirals at the mizzen mastheads of their respective ships. Until 1864, Great Britain had admirals, and vice and rear admirals of the 1 Schomberg's Naval Chronology, vol. v. p. 227. red, white, and blue. By an act of Parliament of that year, the red ensign was given up to the use of the merchant marine, the blue ensign assigned to merchant and packet ships commanded by the officers of the newly organized naval reserve or naval militia, and the white ensign alone reserved for the royal navy. The salute of an admiral in the royal navy is fifteen, of a vice-admiral thirteen, and of a rear-admiral eleven guns. Merchant vessels frequently carry small flags at their mastheads, bearing the arms, monograms, or devices of their owners or commanders, or designating the province or port to which the vessel belongs. The flag of the President of the United States, hoisted at the main, and denoting his presence on board a vessel of war, is appropriately the National Ensign, the flag of the sovereign people of whom he is the popular representative, and from whom he derives power and authority. The Vice-President and members of the Cabinet (the Secretary of the Navy excepted) are also designated by the national flag worn at the fore during their presence on board a vessel of war, and it always floats at the Capitol over the Senate-Chamber and House of Representatives whenever those bodies are in session, a custom followed in all or most of the States of the Union whenever their legislative bodies are in session. A special mark for the Secretary of the Navy, established in 1866, was a square blue flag having a white foul anchor placed vertically in the centre with four white stars surrounding it, one in each corner of the flag. By an order dated 1869, this flag became obsolete, and the Union Jack was ordered to be hoisted at the main whenever he embarked on board a vessel of the navy; but the flag of 1866 was restored by another order on the 4th of July, 1876. The first rear-admiral's flag in our navy was a plain blue flag, such as had been used by the rank of flag-officer before the introduction of admirals to the service. This flag was, by law, required to be worn at the main by the three senior rear-admirals, at the fore by the next three in seniority, and at the mizzen by the three junior rear-admirals, and was first hoisted at the main on board the Hartford, in 1862, by Rear-Admiral Farragut, who had previously, as flag-officer, carried it at the fore. The absurdity of a rear-admiral's wearing his flag at 1 I have in my possession this flag, which was worn by Flag-Officer Farragut at the passage of the forts below New Orleans, and hoisted on the Hartford on his promotion to rear-admiral. Later, the two stars were added to it. The admiral presented the flag to Lieut. D. G. McRitchie, U.S.N., who gave it to me in 1875. In the fore or main was so contrary to the custom of other nations, that, by the suggestion of Hon. R. H. Dana, Jr., the next Congress repealed the law, after which a square flag hoisted at the mizzen, blue, red, or white, according to the seniority of the officer, was adopted. 1866, after the introduction of the grades of admiral and vice-admiral, the device adopted for the admiral was four five-pointed white stars arranged as a diamond in a blue field, to be hoisted at the main. For the vice-admiral, three white stars arranged as an equilateral triangle on a blue field, to be hoisted at the fore. For rear-admirals, a square flag, blue, red, or white, according to seniority, at the mizzen, with two stars placed vertically in the centre of the flag. The color of the stars to be white when the flag was blue or red, and blue when the flag was white. The commodore's broad pennants were swallowtailed flags, the same in color according to their seniority as the rearadmiral's flags. From the organization of our navy until the regulation of 1866 they had been studded with a constellation of stars. equal in number to the States of the Union, by the regulations then established only one star in the centre was to be emblazoned on their field. In 1869, a radical change was made in the flags of our admirals and commodores; square flags, with thirteen alternate red and white stripes, were then prescribed for all grades of admirals, their position on the fore, main, or mizzen mast showing whether the officer was an admiral, vice, or a rear admiral; and if two rear-admirals should happen to meet in the same port in command, then the junior was directed, while in the presence of his senior, to wear two red stars perpendicular in a white canton on the upper luff of his flag. The commodore's pendant was swallow-tailed, but otherwise like the admiral's flag, and worn at the main or fore, according to seniority, when more than one were in port together. The order of Jan. 6, 1876, restored the flags of 1866 on our centennial birthday. Each of the States of our Union and most of the Territories have flags of their own, generally of one color, white, blue, or red, and blazoned with the arms of the State. This flag is carried by the State militia into battle or on parade side by side with the national standard. We shall treat of these under an appropriate heading. An interesting relic of the American revolution is the banner of Count Pulaski, presented to him by the Moravian Sisters of Bethlehem, Penn., in 1778. Count Pulaski was appointed a brigadier in the Continental army on the 15th of September, 1777, just after the battle of the Brandywine, and given the command of the cavalry. He resigned that command in a few months, and obtained permission to raise and command an independent corps, to consist of 68 horse and 200 foot, which was chiefly levied and fully organized in Baltimore in 1778. Pulaski visited Lafayette while wounded, and was a recipient of the care and hospitality of the Moravian Sisters at Bethlehem, Penn. His presence and eventful history made a deep impression upon that community, and, when informed that he was organizing a corps of cavalry, they prepared a banner of crimson silk, with designs beautifully wrought with the needle by their own hands, and sent it to Pulaski, with their blessing. The memory of this event has been embalmed in beautiful verse by Longfellow. Pulaski received the banner with grateful acknowledgments, and bore it gallantly through many a martial scene, until he fell at Savannah, in the autumn of 1779. His banner was saved by his first lieutenant, who received fourteen wounds, and delivered to Captain Bentalon, who, on retiring from the army, took the banner home with him to Baltimore. It was in the procession that welcomed Lafayette to that city in 1824, and was then deposited in Peale's Museum, where it was ceremoniously received by young ladies of the city. Mr. Edmund Peale presented it to the Maryland Historical Society in 1844, where it is carefully preserved in a glass case. Little of its pristine beauty remains. It is composed of double silk, now faded to a dull brownish red. The designs on each side are embroidered with yellow silk, the letters shaded with green, and a deep bullion fringe ornaments the edge. The size of the banner is twenty inches square. It was attached to a lance when borne in the field. On one side of the banner are the letters U. S., and in a circle around them the words UNITAS VIRTUS FORCIOR,- Union makes valor Pulaski's Banner. stronger. The letter c in the last word is incorrect, it should be t. On the other side, in the centre, is the all-seeing eye, with the words NON ALIUS REGIT,-"No other governs." Another interesting Revolutionary relic is the flag of Washington's Life Guard, which is preserved in the Museum of Alexandria, Va. It is of white silk, on which the device is neatly painted. One of the guard is holding a horse, and in the act of receiving a flag from the Genius of Liberty personified as a woman leaning upon the Union shield, near which is an American eagle. The motto of the corps, CONQUER OR DIE, is on a ribbon over the device. This Life Guard was a distinct corps of mounted men, attached to the person of Washington, 3 CONQUER OR DIE but never spared in battle. It was organized in 1776, soon after the siege of Boston, while the American army was encamped near the city of New York. It consisted of a major's command; viz., one hundred and eighty men, and its chief bore the title of Captain Commandant. The uniform of the guard consisted of a blue coat with white facings, white waistcoat and breeches, blue half-gaiters, and a cocked hat with a white plume. They carried muskets, and occasionally side-arms. Care was taken to have all the States from which the Continental army was supplied with troops represented in this corps. Flag of the Washington Life Guard. BANNERS, BANDEROLES, GUIDONS, PENNONS, Several varieties of flags were formerly employed, indicating by their form and size the rank of the bearer. The use of many of these, however, has become obsolete; but, as frequent allusion is made to them in history and in ancient ballads, it is necessary that the modern reader should be acquainted with the names and significations of these flags of former times. A passage in Marmion' alludes to several flags now fallen into disuse. "Nor marked they less, where in the air Highest and midmost was descried The staff, a pine-tree strong and straight, Pitched deeply in a massive stone Which still in memory is shown. |