land let the sound of it flee,
Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree."

CHAPTER VI

THE "GRAND UNION FLAG"

During the summer following the battle of Bunker Hill, the colonies
had a congress without authority, a commander-in-chief without money,
and an army without discipline, equipments, or flag--or rather, with
so many flags that they must have had little significance except to
the respective groups of men who had marched under each. Before
Christmas a flag was designed and made, but how, where, and by whom is
not known. Neither Washington nor Franklin gives any information, and
the _Journal_ of Congress says nothing about its designer or maker. It
is true that a committee of three,--all signers of the Declaration of
Independence a few months later,--Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania,
Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, whose son Benjamin was afterwards to
become President of the United States, and Thomas Lynch, of South
Carolina, were sent by Congress to Cambridge, to discuss with
Washington and others many necessary questions, but there is no proof
that the design of a flag was among them. The flag, however, was made.
This was what is known as the "Grand Union Flag." The British flag,
red with a blue union, marked by the upright cross of St. George and
the diagonal cross of St. Andrew, was known as the "Union Flag,"
because it typified, as has been said before, the union of England and
Scotland. The new flag retained the blue union with its two crosses,
but instead of a red field it had red and white stripes. These
thirteen stripes represented the thirteen colonies; the blue union
suggested that the colonies still clung to the mother country.

Where the idea of using stripes came from is a question that has never
been solved. The Philadelphia Troop had thirteen stripes on their
banner, but they were blue and white. Washington's coat of arms
contained red and white stripes; but Washington was too modest a man
to suggest using his own family arms, and as to any one's suggesting
it for him, it must be remembered that he was not yet the revered
"Father of his Country," but simply a Virginia planter of forty-three
years who had been successful in fighting the Indians, and who,
because of his good judgment and uprightness of character, had been
made a member of the Virginia Legislature and then of the Continental
Congress. The flag of the Netherlands--but chose