History
The origins of the Coast Guard standard are very obscure. One theory states that it might have evolved from an early jack. There is at least one contemporary painting supporting this theory. In an 1840 painting, the Revenue cutter Alexander Hamilton flies a flag very similar to that of today’s Coast Guard as a jack. This flag, like the union jack, appears to be the canton or upper corner of the Revenue cutter ensign.
An illustration in 1917 shows the Coast Guard standard as a white flag with a blue eagle and 13 stars in a semicircle surrounding it. Later, the words, "United States Coast Guard-- Semper Paratus" were added.
After 1950, the semicircle of stars was changed to the circle containing 13 stars. The Coast Guard standard is used during parades and ceremonies and is adorned by the Coast Guard's 34 battle streamers. The Coast Guard is unique to the other services for it has two official flags, the Coast Guard standard and the Coast Guard ensign.
The current flag was officially adopted on January 28, 1964.
Read more about this topic: Flag Of The United States Coast Guard
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)
“We aspire to be something more than stupid and timid chattels, pretending to read history and our Bibles, but desecrating every house and every day we breathe in.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the landscape buckles and jerks around, when a dust column of debris rises from the collapse of a block of buildings on bodies that could have been your own, when the staves of history fall awry and the barrel of time bursts apart, some turn to prayer, some to poetry: words in the memory, a stained book carried close to the body, the notebook scribbled by hand—a center of gravity.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)