Many questions have reached us from subscribers and friends concerning the meaning and reason for the stars and stripes on the United States flag, and how the United States came to choose the colors and design of the flag.

Early in Revolutionary times, each colony had its own flag, and they were very varied in design, and some had strange designs. The colony of Massachusetts had a pine-tree on its flag. South Carolina had a rattlesnake on a yellow flag, and underneath the snake the motto: "Don't tread on me." New York had a white flag with a beaver on it; and Rhode Island a white flag with a blue anchor.

Many variations of the "stars and stripes" are found in the flags used during the first years of the Revolution. Some have red and white stripes, with the field (where the stars are in the flag we all know) like the field of the British flag—red, white, and blue lines crossing one another. This design in the corner of a flag is called its "jack," and is often used alone.

In 1777, Congress declared that the flag should have thirteen horizontal stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field, each representing one of the thirteen States. The idea of the adoption of the grouping of stars and stripes was doubtless taken from the arms of the Washington family, which consisted of a white shield with two horizontal red bars, and above these three red stars.

It was the original intention to add a stripe and a star for each state admitted to the Union, and the grouping of the equal stripes was supposed to represent the unity of the Federation. In 1792 the stars and the stripes were both increased to fifteen on account of the admission to the Union of the States of Vermont and Kentucky, and, after this, others were added. In 1818, Congress decided to return to the original thirteen stripes, and to add a star for each new State, which plan has been followed since. The three colors, red, white, and blue, symbolize valor, purity, and truth.

The United States has but one national flag, which is flown alike on buildings, men-of-war, and merchant vessels, and to us Americans its purity and beauty appeal strongly.

A number of the foreign nations have different flags, known as the royal standard, the war flag, and the merchant flag. For instance, Spain has the three. The colors of Spain are red and yellow. The navy flag consists of three horizontal stripes—yellow in the middle, and a narrower red band at top and bottom. On the yellow band near the staff is a coat of arms surmounted by a crown. The merchant flag is made up of five horizontal stripes—a yellow in middle, a narrow red, then a narrow yellow, and then a broad red above and below. The colors, red and yellow, were the colors of the royal house of Aragon, whose fortunes were closely allied with the Spanish crown. The royal standard of Spain is an elaborate affair, divided into four parts, containing the heraldic arms of leading families of Spain, and many devices indicating the control of Spain over countries which it once held sway over, but which have long since been lost to her, as Holland, Portugal, etc.

France uses the "tricolor," a flag of three vertical equal stripes, red, white, and blue, the blue being nearest the staff. France has undergone many political changes, and this, the flag of the Republic, was adopted in 1789.

Germany's national flag has a white ground, divided into four parts by black lines—one broad black line and a narrow one on each side. At the centre is a circle containing the Prussian crowned eagle. The upper quarter, by the staff, is divided into three equal horizontal stripes, black, white, and red, and on these is a Maltese cross—the iron cross of Germany.

The German merchant flag has red, white, and black horizontal stripes.

Flags have grown by custom and international law to represent nationality. If they are insulted the insult is to the nation. In war they are protected by lives, and in peace they pass around the world, or float from their staffs on land—marks of their nation's strength and supremacy.