But we have before stated that the rattlesnake first appeared as a snake divided into thirteen parts, each part marked with the initials of the colony to which it corresponded, and beneath them the motto, "Join, or die," indicating the necessity of union. And that, the union being effected, the initials on the parts were dropped (thus indicating the equality of the colonies under the Union), and the parts were united in the form indicated in this standard, and beneath it the words, "Don't tread on me," implying the consciousness of strength derived from that union, of which, we have seen, the rattlesnake was an emblem indigenous to America, while at the same time the serpent implies eternal duration. This, then, may properly be called the Rattlesnake Union Standard, and the other, the Great Union, or Striped Union Flag; and together they indicated that existence as a people was inseparable from union--the strength resulting from that union--the necessary subordination of each colony to the whole Union, the intimate connection of the colonies composing the Union, their equality and perpetuity under it, and the power of fascination in the Union and harmony in the colonies, which would draw everybody to America, and cause those who had once tasted the liberty and blessings she enjoys, never to leave her, but to "spend their lives with her." Having thus described the flags of the United Colonies, and shown that they were emblematic of union, and hence called Union flags, in imitation of the prevailing custom of the mother country, we now proceed to consider the Flag of the United States, described in the following Resolution of Congress, passed June 14, 1777:-- "_Resolved_, That the Flag of the Thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: That the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." This resolution was made public September 3, 1777; and Colonel Trumbull represents the flag made in pursuance of it as used at Burgoyne's surrender, October 17, 1777. From the above resolution and what has preceded, it is apparent that the object of that resolution was simply to give the authorization of Congress to a color existing, so far as the stripes and part of the flag called the union were concerned; but it is worthy of remark that the character of the new emblem for that union is specially described as representing "a new constellation."