Bonus Feature 5:
Vexillology
It’s time for a left turn into Bonus Feature Land. As I’ve done in the past, I am now giving you fair warning that what is about to transpire within the confines of this post has nothing to do with Disney (or even our 2011 trip for that mater). However, I have also posted the last section of our traveling day right below this one, so you can just scroll on down and pick back up on the relevant action with no farther loss of life, limb or sanity. Why do I do this? Can’t really say. I guess I’m just trying to get some of this useless junk out of my head. Y’all just happen to be in the line of fire, and I do apologize for that, but then again, it’s why I certainly don’t mind if you move on.
For those that have foolishly chosen to stay with me here on today’s episode of “You Bet Your Life”… the secret word for the day is: Vexillology.
Which-a-what-a-ology?
Vexillology (and before you say it… it’s not the study of things that piss you off). The inspiration for this diversion into my broken thought process can be found prominently toward the end of the previous TR installment. Specifically… these two pictures right here:
Vexillology is derived from the Latin word “vexillum”, meaning 'flag', and flags are one of the many, many unforgivably nerdy things that fascinate me. Color, symbolism, imagery, history, controversy… flags have a lot of things going for them. It’s really amazing to think that a piece of cloth can raise so much passion and fervor that folks will come to blows over them. The subject can easily grow into encyclopedic scales so for the sake of relative brevity, I’ll try to limit the discussion to the banners that you see in my inspiration photos. But first (and you’d expect no less from me) a little bit of background.
A vexillum was a flag-like object used in the Classical Era of the Roman Empire. The word is itself is a diminutive of “velum” which means: sail, and as such, these “vexilla” were quite literally "little sails".
These bits of cloth were draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from a staff. The rod was usually toped with a finial and adorned with other important objects as well (often pertaining to past battles and campaigns). The vexillum were the symbolic representations of individual Roman army units and for that reason they were treasured objects and were closely defended at all times. This form of symbolism was adopted by other military orders over time, but the banners themselves are now normally fastened to the side of a pole and allowed to flutter freely. These symbols also led to the development of Heraldry in the Middle Ages as a method of identifying families, individuals and allegiances. Heraldic rules and principals are also the driving force behind the design of most modern flags.
Well… That’s enough history for now, so how about a little bit of terminology. The little representation below gives you a quick understanding of most of the descriptive terms used in the flag world.
The “hoist is the edge nearest the pole, and the “fly” is the edge farthest out. The “canton” is the upper left corner and is generally considered a position of honor. Any additional symbols that appear on a flag are called either a “badge” or a “blazon” (both heraldic terms) and their positioning is often highly symbolic.
Now then… back to the Castillo. It is said that the Castillo de San Marcos has served under five flags and those are the ones that I’m going to focus on here. So… why are there actually six flags in the photographs? Well the Park Service has chosen to display both the first and the last versions of the US flag to be used while the fort was an actual military installation. I’ll discuss those at length later on, but it’s better to start at the beginning. So here we go…
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Cruz de Borgoña
(“The Cross of Burgundy”)
As Spaniards built the fort, it follows that their flag was the first to fly over it (and actually still does so to this day).
The Burgundy Cross is based on the heraldic coat of arms used by Philip I, Duke of Burgundy. The X-shaped cross symbolized the rough branches of the trees on which Saint Andrew (the patron saint of Burgundy among other places) was crucified. In 1516 the duke’s son ascended to the thorn of Spain and became Charles I of Spain. At that time Charles adopted the arms of his family as a national standard. Versions of this flag were used primarily aboard Spanish ships and came to represent Spanish rule in Florida until the mid 1700s. Ultimately, it would be replaced not for political reasons, but for practical ones (but I’ll get into that more a little later on).
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The Union Flag
As part of the treaty resolving the “Seven Years War”, Britain gained all of Spanish Florida in exchange for returning Havana and Manila to Spain. When they took control of the Castillo in 1763, The Union Flag was the symbol on the empire. This flag is actually mad up of two older separate flags laid on top of each other. The Cross of St. George (patron saint of England) used in combination with the Blue and white Scottish Cross of St. Andrew.
If you’ve ever seen the current flag use by the UK (which is likely), then as you look at the Union flag, you’ll probably notice that it seems like something is missing. You’d also be correct n that feeling. After Ireland was added to the United Kingdom in the early nineteenth century, the Red Cross of St Patrick was added to the Union Jack and supplies it’s modern appearance.
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La Bandera de España
The treaty that ended the American Revolution also ended the British tenure at the Castillo, and in 1784 Spanish troops returned to St Augustine. But a year later they would lower the Burgundy Cross for the last time and raised a very different flag over the fort. Charles III chose a new Spanish national flag in 1785. Partly as a break form past royal houses, and partly for a more practical reason. Specifically: for ease of recognition at a distance. This is actually no small detail. When you are trying to identify a ship or a group of solders trough the lens of a telescope, and the basic design of the flag used by both your enemy and yourself happens to be a reddish cross dominating a white field, you’ve got a potential problem. The new national colors of Spain immediately separated it from the other major powers. This basic design has remained in use as the symbol of España since then, but it would not be the last colors to fly over the fortress.
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The 23 Star Banner
This was the flag of the land when the United States took control of Florida in early 1821. As such, it’s the first American flag to fly over the Castillo. Being as this flag represents my home (and is one of the most recognized on Earth), I’m going to spend a bit more time on it.
When the American Revolution began, the new nation did not have an official flag of any type. This is the kind of thing that now gets thought out even before actual conflicts arise, but for the folks in Philadelphia, this detail just didn’t make it up to the top of the list. For military people however… this kind of thing is crucial. Banners identify individual units, mark where the leadership can be found, and provide for pride and heightened moral amongst the regular troops. Early on, General Washington used a blue flag with thirteen stars to represent his headquarters.
At about that same time, American seaman needed a flag to identify themselves as well (especially since flying no flag would get your ship attacked by friend and foe alike as a pirate vessel or worse yet a spy ship). They chose to alter a striped flag that was in use at the time by the Dutch East India Company (but was never flown outside of the Indian Ocean). There were a number of versions of this striped flag in use, but for obvious reasons, the one chosen was cut down to thirteen stripes and then emblazoned with a snake (taken from a popular political drawing from the time).
Sometimes called the “Rebellious Strips, sometimes called the “Culpepper Flag”, it’s most common name is taken from the phrase embroidered along the bottom; “Don’t Tread On Me”
So now you’d think that arriving at the actual US flag was just simply a matter of mashing these two examples together. Well… not quite. There was another major influence to be considered first. This one:
The “White Ensign” is probably the most famous flag in recorded history. It is the symbol of the Royal Navy and therefore the most recognized symbol of British power. It has also wielded great influence on many other flag designs through out the world (empires will do things like that). When the Continental Congress finally got around to designing a flag for the fledgling nation, they actually started with this one. They left the “Union Jack” in the canton to represent our heritage as being primarily English. But they replaced the rest with the rebellious stripes (less the snake).
Know as the “Grand Union”, this is the first official national banner. There was also another practical reason for this design. All you had to do to make one was to acquire a White Ensign (and they were quite common), and then just sew on additional red stripes. It was only later on as calls for a complete break with Mother England continued to rise, when the thirteen stars favored by Washington’s armies would replace the Union.
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The First National
It is impossible to deal with US history and ignore the Civil War. Our founding would leave us no choice but to fight it later and in truth it still affects our culture today. The new government in Richmond chose a pattern of the first flag of the American Confederacy (without a formal vote) in March 1861 just prior to the start of the actual conflict. This direct variation on the US flag was affectionately referred to as The "Stars and Bars", but ironically it would not receive it official name until after the decision to replace it. The development of the confederate flag and its ramifications is also a fascinating subject, but only the First National ever flew over St. Augustine, so I’ll save that story for another time. The US Army pulled out of Florida once the state succeeded in early 1861, but Union forces retook the Castillo in March of 1862. Confederate forces pulled out of the area when they received word that US Navy ships were entering the bay. Specifically, the USS Wabash:
(You had to know that I’d find a way to squeeze a picture of a ship into this post somewhere)
Local leaders had no choice but to surrender in order to preserve the town. Fort Marion would remain in Union hands and serve as a prison for the rest of the conflict.
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The 45 Star Banner
When the Castillo returned to US Army control in 1862, there were 34 stars in the canton. By the end of the conflict there’d be 35 and only a few months later it would rise again to 36. When the fort was finally decommissioned for the last time there were 45 stars nestled within the union field and that is the sixth flag on display at the Castillo.
The rules for adding stars to the Flag of the United States are fairly straightforward. Once a territory is accepted into the union, a star is officially added to the flag on the following 4th of July. Depending on when a state was accepted the wait for its star could be anywhere from a few days to nearly a year. This trick of the calendar has created some fairly rare versions of the flag. A good example of this occurred in 1959 when Alaska entered the union on January 3rd (prior to the 4th) and Hawaii on August 21st. As a result the 26th version of our national flag contained 49 stars and was flown for only one year.
If you ever see a photograph with that bad boy fluttering in the breeze, you can date it very specifically. There’s a bit of trivia that you can win a bet with or tuck into your next spy novel as a major clue. The 27th and current version of our national standard has been flying since July 4th, 1960, longer then any other variant in US history.
For most of our flag’s history there were no precise rules governing the arrangement of the stars within the canton. This has lead to some interesting variations on the theme, but in general, an arrangement of rows and columns as evenly spaced as possible has been the excepted rule. Since 1912 however, (with the establishment of the 48 star flag), the star arrangement has been part of the same executive order that would establish each new version. In fact, there is already an official arrangement of stars waiting in the wings just in case one of our territories decides to join the union (or California, Washington, Pennsylvania or Florida finally decide to break into multiple states). If one of these events ever occurs, then on the next Independence Day, we’ll not just be grilling burgers; drinking beer and setting off fireworks… we’ll also be raising a glass in honor of a new flag. And it’ll very likely look like this:
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: Hummmmm… 
