Frederick Edward Hulme

“ Suffice it now to say that this Kingdom of Italy, as we now know it, did not achieve until the year 1870 this full unity under one flag that had been for centuries the dream of patriots who freely shed their blood on the battlefield or the scaffold, or perished in the dungeons of Papal Rome, or Naples, or Austria for this ideal. ”

“ The distinctive mark of all such refuges is a white flag with a red cross on it—the flag of Switzerland reversed in colouring—and all medical stores, carriages, and the like, bear the same device upon them; while the doctors, nurses, and assistants, have a white armlet with the red cross upon it, the sacred badge that proclaims their mission of mercy. In deference to the religious feelings of Turkey a red crescent may be substituted for the cross in campaigns where that country is one of the belligerents. ”

“ The Chief of the State, whether he be called Emperor, King, President, or Sultan, has his own flag—his personal Standard—and this special and personal flag, in the case of the President of the United States, has on its blue field an eagle, bearing on its breast a shield with the stars and stripes, and beneath it the national motto, "E pluribus unum." As it has been suggested that the employment of the eagle as a symbol of the State was derived from the crest of Washington, it may not be inopportune to state that the crest in question was not an eagle at all, but a raven. ”

“ The red and the white in the German flag represents the commercial prosperity of the nation, while the black and white symbolises the strong arm of the State prepared to protect and foster it. The flags of these three cities still retain the old colours, Lubeck being half white and half red, Bremen red and white stripes, and Hamburg a white castle on a red field. ”

“ As Sovereign of Sweden, the King places his arms in the centre of the large yellow cross; as Sovereign of Norway, in the centre of the large blue cross; hence we get the Swedish and Norwegian Royal Standards, the one for use in the one country, and the other for service in the other, the Union device being present in the upper corner in each case, and the outer portion of the flags swallow-tailed. The Standard is, in fact, the war flag plus the royal arms. The Post Service has in the centre of the flag a white square, with a golden horn and crown in it ”

“ When the French declared war against Prussia, on July 16th, 1870, they were entirely unprepared for the enthusiasm and unity with which the various German States rallied together against the common opponent. It was thought that the Southern and Catholic States would, at least, be neutral, if they did not side with France against a Power that, during previous conflict with Austria, had laid heavy hand on those that had then taken sides against her. ”

“ The flag of the Cuban national forces in conflict with Spain has at the hoist a triangular portion of blue, one side of this triangle being the depth of the flag itself, and on this blue field is a white, five-pointed star. The rest of the flag is made up of the following horizontal and equal stripes—red, white, red, white, red.
Japan—known to the Japanese as Niphon, derived from Nitsu, Sun, and Phon, the rising—the Land of the Rising Sun, [26] has adopted this rising sun as its emblem. ”

“ The whole history of the flag prior to the Great Revolution, is somewhat confused, and in the year 1669, which we may consider about the middle of the Bourbon or white flag period, [14] we find the order given by the Minister of the Marine that "the ensigns are to be blue, powdered with yellow fleurs-de-lys, with a large white cross in the middle." Merchant ships were to wear the same flag as the ships of war except that in the canton corner was to be placed the device of their province or town. ”

“ Over ten thousand Greeks were slaughtered in Cyprus in 1821, while the bombardment of Scio in 1822, and the horrible massacre on its capture, stand out in lurid colours as one of the most atrocious deeds the world has ever known: over forty thousand men, women, and children fell by the sword. ”

“ Another theory that has been advanced is that the blue quarter was taken from the blue banner of the Scotch Covenanters, and was therefore significant of the Solemn League and Covenant of the United Colonies against oppression, while the stripes were a blending of the red colours used in the army with the white flags used in the navy. We give the theory for what it is worth, which we venture to say is not very much; but as it was advanced by an American writer, we give it place. ”

“ During the American War both Federals and Confederates owed much to the influence of stirring patriotic songs. There can be no doubt that the songs of Dibdin contributed not a little to our own naval victories, and every cause that is worth fighting for evokes like stirring strains. Perhaps one of the most marked illustrations of this is the birth of that grand war-song known as the "Marseillaise." Rouget de l'Isle, its author, was a captain of French Engineers stationed in Strassbourg on the opening of the campaign against Austria and Prussia in 1792. ”

“ We are so used in England to the idea that cheering is a spontaneous product that it seems strange to find that the official welcome by the Austrian fleet to their Emperor is a salute of twenty-one guns, followed by fifteen hurrahs. ”

“ Within a month of his accession to the throne, the Dutch recommenced the struggle, and it was only in 1839 that a final treaty of peace was signed in London between Belgium and Holland, and its claims to independence frankly recognised by the Dutch.
Greece, originally invaded by the Turks in the year 1350, remained for nearly five hundred years under their oppressive yoke, rising from time to time against their masters, only to expose their country, on the failure of their attempts, to the greater tyranny and the most dreadful excesses. ”

“ If we commence at the top with a white one, we shall have seven white and six red, whereas if we begin with a red stripe we shall get seven red and six white. Each of these renderings was for some years in use, until it was authoritatively laid down that the latter was the arrangement to be adopted. It seems a minor point, but any of our readers who will re-draw Fig. 146 and transpose the colours of the stripes, so that the upper and lower edges of the flag are white instead of red, will be surprised to note how so apparently trivial a change will affect the appearance of the flag. ”

“ This Conference proposed that in time of war the neutrality should be fully admitted of field and stationary hospitals, and also recognised in the most complete manner by the belligerent Powers in the case of all officials employed in sanitary work, volunteer nurses, the inhabitants of the country who shall assist the wounded, and the wounded themselves—that an identical distinctive sign should be adopted for the medical corps of all armies, and that an identical flag should be used for all hospitals and ambulances, and for all houses containing wounded men. ”

“ Seven thousand who had fled to the mountains were induced to surrender by a promise of amnesty, and these, too, were murdered. The towns and villages were fired, and the unfortunate inhabitants, hemmed in by the Turks, perished in the flames or fell beneath the swords of their relentless foes if they attempted to escape. ”

“ Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Carolina, Pennsylvania, and other colonies were successively formed by parties of Englishmen—the final outcome of peaceful settlement, or the arbitrament of the sword, being that the greater part of the eastern seaboard, and the country beyond it, came under the sway of the English Crown, until injudicious taxation and ill-advised repression led at length to open discontent and disloyalty, and finally to revolution and the birth of the great Republic of the West. ”

“ The Americans, jealous of the honour of their flag, have sometimes, to our insular notions, a rather odd way of showing it. Some of our readers will remember how an American, some time ago, undertook to carry the flag of his country through England. ”

“ The familiar green, white, red of Italy is repeated in the flag of Mexico, but instead of the cross of Savoy, we have the eagle and serpent. The Mexican merchant ensign is the plain tricolor of green, white, red, the central device we see in Fig. ”

“ It is very easy to make; it is entirely different from any other national flag. The three colours of which it is composed—red, white, and blue—are the true Republican Colours; they are emblematic of the three great virtues—valour, purity, and truth. Naval men assure us that it can be recognised at a great distance. The colours contrast admirably, and are lasting. In effect and appearance it must speak for itself." The flag, thus highly and justly commended, was first hoisted on March 4th, 1861, at Montgomery. It is represented in Fig. ”

“ Fig. 165 is the flag of Uruguay, a State that was formerly a province of Brazil, but declared its independence in the year 1825. The next flag on our plate, Fig. 166, is the war ensign of Guatemala: the shield in the centre bears a scroll with the words "Libertad 15 de Setiembre, 1821," surmounted by a parrot, surrounded by a wreath, and having behind it crossed rifles and swords. The merchant flag is the plain blue, white, blue, without the shield. ”

“ The war and mercantile flags of Spain have undergone many changes, and their early history is very difficult to unravel; but on May 28th, 1785, the flags were adopted that have continued in use ever since. Fig. 192 is the flag of the Spanish Navy; it consists, as will be seen, of three stripes—a central yellow one, and a red one, somewhat narrower, above and below. The original proportion was that the yellow should be equal in width to the two red ones combined. ”

“ At the commencement of any great struggle by a revolting people there is often a great variety of device, and it is only after a while that such a multiplicity is found to be a danger. Hence we find that prior to the yellow rattlesnake flag, South Carolina had, with equal enthusiasm, adopted the blue flag with the crescent moon that we have figured in No. ”

“ A compromise was effected in February, 1867, by which the Hungarians were willing to remain under the rule of the Emperor of Austria, but only on condition that he submitted to be crowned King of Hungary, and that in the dual monarchy thus created they should have absolutely the same rights and freedom as the Austrians. ”

“ For these various strips of gaily-coloured bunting, men have given without hesitation their lives, have poured out blood and treasure without stint or count of cost, and wherever they encounter them the wide world over, the wanderers forget for a while the alien shore or waste of ocean as their thoughts turn to the dear homeland.
↑ Thus in a French book on flags (La Haye's) , published in 1737, we see a "pavillon de Nouvelle Angleterre en Amerique." This is a blue flag, having on a white canton the Cross of St. ”

“ Englishmen, cela va sans dire, have no hostility to the Americans, and the populace—urban, suburban, and rural—everywhere entered into the humour of the thing, and cheered the gallant sergeant and his bunting wherever he appeared. ”

“ Each rank has its special limit of honour; thus a minister of State or field-marshal is saluted by nineteen guns and eleven hurrahs; a general by thirteen and seven, while a commodore drops to eleven and three; ambassadors, archbishops, consuls, all have their definite share of gunpowder and such specified amount of shouting as is held to be befitting to their position.
The Imperial Standard of the Czar of all the Russias is the brilliant yellow and black flag represented in Fig. ”

“ At "I" we have the golden lion of Brabant, and above it at "J" the fleurs-de-lys and chequers of ancient Burgundy. The upper small shield contains the arms of Portugal, and the lower contains the fleurs-de-lys of France. ”