he hint.
The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy gave orders in
1912, after the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, that the stars,
now forty-eight, should be arranged in six rows of eight stars each.
This was approved by the President, but no decree has been passed by
Congress.

Until 1866 our country's flag was manufactured in a foreign land.
Bunting in a flag has a hard life. It must meet sun, wind, and storm;
it must be light enough to float at every breeze and strong enough to
endure severe wear. Attempts had been made many years earlier to make
bunting in the United States, and flags of home manufacture had been
tried again and again, but they had never stood the tests. In 1865,
however, Congress put a duty of forty per cent on imported bunting,
and also made it lawful for the Government to purchase its flags in
the United States. With this duty manufacturers could compete with the
lower wages paid in England, and now it became worth while to set to
work in earnest. Within a year the thing had been done. A company in
Lowell, Massachusetts, presented to the Senate a flag manufactured in
the United States. It was hoisted over the Capitol, and for the first
time this country, then ninety years old, floated over its Congress a
banner of bunting woven and made "at home." This banner stood all the
tests, and soon the price of the material was greatly reduced. Since
the manufacture of this flag all bunting used in flags for the navy
has come from Lowell. It must be of a fixed weight and strength and
must be absolutely fast color in sun and rain. These flags are made in
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they must be accurate in every detail.
Even the number of stitches to the inch is a matter of rule. After the
stripes have been sewed together and the stars stitched upon the
canton, the hoist, or end of the flag which is to be next to the
staff, is firmly bound with canvas, and the lines, etc., attached.
Then the flag is stamped with the date. Many silken flags are used in
the navy, but these are made entirely by hand.

A warship must have not only her own flags, but those of foreign
countries, sometimes two hundred and fifty or more. Some of these flags
are of very complicated design, and the flag-makers tried the experiment
of painting the designs on the bunting. This was not a success, because
the flags stuck together, and now the whole design is worked out in
bunting. The navy makes its own flags, but the War