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.
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