The eagle of France, marked her republican era.
Having thus observed, in the adoption of ensigns by the principal nations of the world, the prevalence of certain general rules, viz.: A reference to their deity; the habit of imitating the ensigns of nations from which they sprung, or which they conquered; the custom of marking, by their standards, some epoch in their history; or these customs in combination, may we not expect to find, in the adoption of our National Ensign, that it is not wholly an exception to these general rules?
Adopting these general principles, we find ourselves, in attempting to give a satisfactory account of the origin, adoption, and meaning of the devices embodied in the National Flag of the United States, obliged to describe the principal flags displayed during the Revolution, which resulted in the independence of those States; to give some account of the flags used by the colonists prior to that Revolution; and to notice, though in a cursory manner, the national flag of the mother country.
To facilitate the consideration of our subject, we shall arrange the flags, mention of which we have met with, as displayed during our Revolution, in a table, chronologically; and shall number them, according to the date of the notice of them, 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., beginning in 1774.
In this Table, we shall give their distinguishing devices; noticing them, when necessary, more at length as we proceed.
1. "Union Flags."[2]--These flags are very frequently mentioned in the newspapers, in 1774, but no account is given of the devices upon them. To establish these devices, will be one of the principal objects of this inquiry.
[2] Siege of Boston, Frothingham, p. 104, _note_.
2. The standard of the Connecticut troops.--A letter, dated Wethersfield, Connecticut, April 23, 1775, says: "We fix upon our standards and drums the colony arms, with the motto, '_Qui transtulit sustinet_,' round it, in letters of gold, which we construe thus: 'God, who transplanted us hither, will support us.'"[3] The standards of the different regiments were distinguished by their color. Act of Provincial Congress of Connecticut, July 1, 1775: "One standard for each regiment _to be distinguished by their color, as follows, viz.: for the seventh, blue; for the eighth, orange_."[4]