Our flag is the representative of national unity, equal and exact justice to all men. It stands for no sentimental characteristic. It is a practical exhibition in itself of the result of concerted action, and has been from its origin until to-day worshipped as no other ensign designed by man has ever been. It is loved and respected by all who love liberty. It represents the government. It represents our honor. To love it is to love one's country, a duty more sacred than any other, except love and respect for God. "Oh, glorious flag! red, white and blue, Bright emblem of the pure and true! Oh, glorious group of clustering stars, Ye lines of light, ye crimson bars." Our flag upon the ocean has been the theme for many a song and story, and in the early days of the Republic the achievements of our naval heroes were looked upon as more essential for the attainment of our liberties than victories on shore, as every vessel captured or destroyed meant the loss of stores and munitions of war to the British troops, hence early in the struggle, as before stated, private enterprise took the first steps in creating a navy, then the colonies took it up separately, and then, as stated, the General Congress. The Delaware River was the scene of more activity in that direction than any other port of the Colonies, a reputation which it still enjoys. A large number of vessels were fitted out, and here it was the first fleet of American war vessels gathered, and from the Delaware sailed the first commissioned war vessel to cruise on the ocean, the Lexington, Commodore John Barry. Of course, there had been many, as I have stated, private and colonial vessels that had been at sea since the Lee, Captain John Manley (_ad supra_), in the autumn of 1775, sailed from a Massachusetts port, and I have no doubt that many of these private and colonial vessels flew the Grand Union Flag after it had been adopted. So therefore it is fair to presume from the records that Lieutenant Paul Jones was the first commissioned officer to raise it to the peak of a _commissioned American war vessel_, the Alfred; that Captain John Barry was the first to take it to sea on the Lexington, and that the first to exhibit it to other countries was Captain Wickes, of the brig Reprisal, who arrived at St. Eustatia on July 27, 1776 (see American Archives, 5th series, Vol. 1, page 610). The flag he displayed had thirteen stripes and a union of yellow or white; but whether it had on it crosses, pine trees or rattlesnakes no one can tell, as no record can be found; but it is supposed to have been a yellow union with a rattlesnake on it (see Fig. 10), as the naval flag had been a yellow flag with a rattlesnake on it, with thirteen rattles and one budding, and the motto "Don't tread on me." It was also claimed to have been displayed in the same port on November 16, 1776, and to have received its first salute from a foreign power.