The flag of the master of the Trinity House is the red cross of St George on its white ground, but with an ancient ship on the waves in each quarter; in the centre is a shield with a precisely similar device and surmounted by a lion.
The sign of a British admiral’s command afloat is always the same. It is the St George’s cross. Of old it was borne on the main, the fore, or the mizzen, according as to whether the officer to whom it pertained was admiral, vice-admiral, or rear-admiral, but, as ironclads superseded wooden ships, and a single pole mast took the place of the old three masts, a different method of indicating rank was necessitated. To-day the flag of an admiral is a square one, the plain St George’s cross. When flown by a vice-admiral it bears a red ball on the white ground in the upper canton next to the staff; if flown by a rear-admiral there is a red ball in both the upper and lower cantons. As nowadays most battleships have two masts, the admiral’s flag is hoisted at the one which has no masthead semaphore. The admiral’s flag is always a square one, but that of a commodore is a broad white pennant with the St George’s cross. If the commodore be first class the flag is plain; if of the second class the flag has a red ball in the upper canton next to the staff. The same system of differentiating rank prevails in most navies, though very often a star takes the place of the ball. In some cases, however, the indications of rank are differently shown. For instance, both in the Russian and Japanese navies the distinction is made by a line of colour on the upper or lower edges of the flag.
The flags of the British colonies are the same as those of the mother country, but differentiated by the badge of the colony being placed in the centre of the flag if it is the Union Jack, or in the fly if it be the blue or red ensign. Examples of these are shown in the Plate, where the blue ensign illustrated is that of New Zealand, the device of the colony being the southern cross in the fly. Precisely the same flag, with a large six-pointed star, emblematic of the six states immediately under the union, forms the flag of the federated commonwealth of Australia. The red ensign shown is that of the Dominion of Canada, the device in the fly being the armorial bearings of the Dominion. As the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, as the representative of royalty, flies the Union Jack with a harp in the centre, or the viceroy of India flies the same flag with, in the centre, the badge of the order of the Star of India, so too colonial governors or high commissioners fly the union flag with the arms of the colony they preside over on a white shield in the centre and surrounded by a laurel wreath. In the case of Canada the wreath, however, is not of laurel but of maple, which is the special emblem of the Dominion.
French.—To come to flags of other countries, nowhere have historical events caused so much change in the standards and national ensigns of a country as in the case of France. The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered withfleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour. The tricolour was introduced at the time of the Revolution, but the origin of this flag and its colours is a disputed question. Some maintain that the intention was to combine in the flag the blue of the Chape de St Martin, the red of the oriflamme, and the white flag of the Bourbons. By others the colours are said to be those of the city of Paris. Yet again, other authorities assert that the flag is copied from the shield of the Orleans family as it appeared after Philippe Égalité had knocked off thefleurs-de-lis. The tricolour is divided vertically into three parts of equal width—blue, white and red, the red forming the fly, the white the middle, and the blue the hoist of the flag. During the first and second empires the tricolour became the imperial standard, but in the centre of the white stripe was placed the eagle, whilst all three stripes were richly powdered over with the golden bees of the Napoleons. The tricolour is now the sole flag of France.
American.—Before the Declaration of Independence the flags of those colonies which now form the United States of America were very various. In the early days of New England the Puritans objected to the red cross of St George, not from any disloyalty to the mother country, but from a conscientious objection to what they deemed an idolatrous symbol. By the year 1700 most of the colonies had devised badges to distinguish their vessels from those of England and of each other. In the early stages of the revolution each state adopted a flag of its own; thus, that of Massachusetts bore a pine tree, South Carolina displayed a rattlesnake, New York had a white flag with a black beaver, and Rhode Island a white flag with a blue anchor upon it. Even after the Declaration of Independence, and the introduction of the stars and stripes, the latter underwent many changes in the manner of their arrangement before taking the position at present established. In 1775 a committee was appointed to consider the question of a single flag for the thirteen states. It recommended that the union be retained in the upper corner next to the staff, the remainder of the field of the flag to be of thirteen horizontally disposed stripes, alternately red and white. This flag, curiously enough, was precisely the same as the flag of the old Honourable East India Company. On the 14th of June 1777 congress resolved “that the flag of the 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 was the origin of the national flag, but at first, as the number of the stripes were unequal, the flag very often varied, sometimes having seven white and six red stripes, and at other times seven red and six white, and it was not for some considerable time that it was authoritatively laid down that the latter arrangement was the one to be adopted. It has also been held that the stars and stripes of the American national flag, as well as the eagle, were suggested by the crest and arms of the Washington family. The latter supposition is absurd, for the Washington crest was a raven. The Washington arms were a white shield having two horizontal red bars, and above these a row of three red stars. This might, by a stretch of imagination, be supposed to have inspired the original idea of the flag which was that each state in the Union should be represented in the national flag by a starand stripe. Naturally other states coming into the Union expected the same privilege. After Vermont in 1790 and Kentucky in 1792 had entered the Union, the stars and stripes were changed in number from thirteen to fifteen. Later on other states joined, and soon the flag came to consist of twenty stars and stripes. It was, however, found objectionable to be constantly altering the national flag, and in the year 1818 it was determined to go back to the original thirteen stripes, but to place a star for each state in the blue union canton in the top corner of the flag next the staff. Thus the stars always show the exact number of states that are in the Union, whilst the stripes denote the original number of the states that formed the union.1The presidential flag of the president of the United States is an eagle on a blue field, bearing on its breast a shield displaying stripes, and above the national mottoE pluribus unum, and a design of the stars of the original thirteen states of the union.
Other Countries.—The most general and important of the various national flags are figured in the Plate. In the top line representing Great Britain are shown the royal standard, the Union Jack (the national flag), the white ensign of the royal navy, the blue ensign of government service, and the red ensign of the commercial marine, colonial flags being shown in the case of the two latter ensigns. The two Japanese flags shown are the man-of-war ensign—a rising sun, generally known as the sun-burst—and the flag of the mercantile marine, in which the red ball is used without the rays and placed in the centre of the white field. The imperial standard of Japan is a golden chrysanthemum on a red field. It is essential that the chrysanthemum should invariably have sixteen petals. Heraldry in Japan is of a simpler character than that of Europe, and is practically limited to the employment of “Mon,” which correspond very nearly to the “crests” of European heraldry. The great families of Japan possess at least one, and in many cases even three, “Mon.” The imperial family use two, the oneKiku no go Mon(the august chrysanthemum crest) andKiri no go Mon(the august Kiri crest). The first represents the sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum, and, although the use of the chrysanthemum flower as a badge is not necessarily confined to the imperial family, they alone have the right to use the sixteen-petalled form. If used by any other family, or society or corporation, it must be with a number of petals less or more than sixteen. The second imperial “Mon” is composed of three leaves and three flower spikes of the Kiri (Paulownia imperialis). This, however, is not displayed as an official emblem, that being reserved for the chrysanthemum. The Kiri is used for more private purposes. For example, the chrysanthemum figures in the imperial standard, and the Kiri “Mon” adorns the harness of the emperor’s horses. It is very probable that the chrysanthemum crest did not originally represent the chrysanthemum flower at all but the sun with sixteen rays, and it will be noticed that in the “sun-burst” flag the sun’s rays are sixteen in number. The use of the number sixteen is probably traceable to Chinese geomantic ideas.
The German imperial navy and mercantile marine flags are next depicted. The “iron cross” in the navy flag is that of the Teutonic Order, and dates from the close of the 12th century. For five centuries black and white have been the Hohenzollern colours, and the first verse of the German war song,Ich bin ein Preusse, runs:—“I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner?Before me floats my flag of black and white!My fathers died for freedom, ’twas their manner,So say these colours floating in your sight.”The mercantile marine tricolour of black, white and red is emblematic of the joining of the Hohenzollern black and white with the red and white, which was the ensign of the Hanseatic League. This flag came into being when the North German Confederacy was established (November 25th, 1867) at the close of the Austro-Prussian War.The German imperial standard has the iron cross with its white border displayed on a yellow field, diapered over in each of the four quarters with three black eagles and a crown. In the centre of the cross is a shield bearing the arms of Prussia surmounted by a crown, and surrounded by a collar of the Order of the Black Eagle. In the four arms of the crown are the legendGott mit uns1870. The United States flag and the tricolour of France have already been fully dealt with, and in both countries the one flag is common to both men-of-war and ships of the mercantile marine.The next depicted are the imperial navy and the mercantile marine flags of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In the latter the introduction of the green half stripe denotes the combination of the Austrian red, white and red with the Hungarian red, white and green. The shields with which the flag is charged contain respectively the arms of Austria and of Hungary. The former shield only is borne on the man-of-war ensign, and displays the heraldic device of the ancient dukes of Austria, which dates back to the year 1191. The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire. The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black.The green, white and red Italian tricolour was adopted in 1805, when Napoleon I. formed Italy into one kingdom. It was adopted again in 1848 by the Nationalists of the peninsula, accepted by the king of Sardinia, and, charged by him with the arms of Savoy, it became the flag of a united Italy. The man-of-war flag is precisely similar to that of the mercantile marine, except that in the case of the former the shield of Savoy is surmounted by a crown. The royal standard is a blue flag. In the centre is a black eagle crowned and displaying on its breast the arms of Savoy, the whole surrounded by the collar of the Most Sacred Annunziata, the third in rank of all European orders. In each corner of the flag is the royal crown.For Portugal the flag is one of the few national flags that are parti-coloured. It is half blue, half white, with, in the centre, the arms of Portugal surmounted by the royal crown, and it is the same both in the mercantile marine and in the Portuguese navy. The royal standard of Portugal is an all-red flag charged in the centre with the royal arms, as shown in the national flag.In the Spanish ensigns red and yellow are the prevailing colours, and here again the arrangement differs from that generally used. The navy flag has a yellow central stripe, with red above and below. To be correct the yellow should be half the width of the flag, and each of the red stripes a quarter of the width of the flag. The central yellow stripe is charged in the hoist with an escutcheon containing the arms of Castile and Leon, and surmounted by the royal crown. In the mercantile flag the yellow centre is without the escutcheon, and is one-third of the entire depth of the flag, the remaining thirds being divided into equal stripes of red and yellow, the yellow above in the upper part of the flag, the red in the lower. Of all royal standards that of Spain is the most elaborate, for it contains quarterings of the Spanish royal escutcheon, many of the bearings being as much an anachronism as if the royal arms of England were to-day to be quartered with thefleur-de-lis. In all, the quarterings displayed are those of Leon, Castile, Aragon, Sicily, Austria, Burgundy, Flanders, Antwerp, Brabant, Portugal and France. The flag is usually depicted as composed entirely of the quarterings. We believe, however, that it is more correctly a purple flag in the centre of which the quarterings are displayed on an oval shield surmounted by a crown and encircled by the collar of the order of the Golden Fleece.The flag of the Russian mercantile marine is a horizontal tricolour of white, blue and red. Originally, it was a tricolour of blue, white and red, and it is said that the idea of its colouring was taken by Peter the Great when learning shipbuilding in Holland, for as the flag then stood it was simply the Dutch ensign reversed. Later, to make it more distinctive, the blue and white stripes changed places, leaving the tricolour as it stands to-day. The flag of the Russian navy is the blue saltire of St Andrew on a white ground. St Andrew is the patron saint of Russia, from whence the emblem. The imperial standard is of a character akin to that of Austria; the ground is yellow, and the centre bears the imperial double-headed eagle, a badge that dates back to 1472, when Ivan the Great married a niece of Constantine Palaeologus and assumed the arms of the Greek empire. On the breast of the eagle is an escutcheon charged with the emblem of St George and the Dragon on a red ground, and this is surrounded by the collar of the order of St Andrew. On the splayed wings of the eagle are small shields bearing the arms of the various provinces of the empire.The Rumanian flag is a blue, yellow and red tricolour, the stripes vertical, with the blue stripe forming the fly. The Servian flag is a horizontal tricolour, the top stripe red, the middle blue and the lower white. When these tricolours are flown as royal standards the royal arms are displayed on the central stripe. The flag of Montenegro is a horizontal tricolour, the top stripe red, the centre blue, the lowermost white. The Bulgarian flag is a similar tricolour, white, green and red, the white stripe uppermost, but when flown as a war ensign there is a canton in the upper corner of the hoist in which is a golden lion on a red ground.The flags of all the three Scandinavian kingdoms are somewhat similar in design. That of Denmark, the Dannebrog, has been already alluded to, and it is shown in our illustration as flown by the Danishnavy. The mercantile marine flag is precisely similar, but rectangular instead of being swallow-tailed. The Swedish flag is a yellow cross on a blue ground. When flown from a man-of-war it is forked as in the Danish, but the longer arm of the cross is not cut off but pointed, thus making it a three-pointed flag as illustrated. For the mercantile marine the flag is rectangular. When Norway separated from Denmark in 1814, the first flag was red with a white cross on it, and the arms of Norway in the upper corner of the hoist, but as this was found to resemble too closely the Danish flag, a blue cross with a white border was substituted for the white cross. This, it will be seen, is the Danish flag with a blue cross imposed upon the white one. For a man-of-war the flag is precisely similar to that of Sweden in shape; that is to say, converted from the rectangular into the three-pointed design. While Sweden and Norway remained united the flag of each remained distinct, but each bore in the top canton of the hoist a union device, being the combination of the Norwegian and Swedish national colours and crosses. In each of the three above nationalities the flag used for a royal standard is the man-of-war flag with the royal arms imposed on the centre of the cross.The Belgian tricolour is vertical, the stripes being black next the hoist, yellow in the centre and red in the fly. That of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour, red above, white in the centre and blue below. In both countries the same flag is common to both navy and mercantile marine, but when the flag is used as a royal standard the royal arms are displayed in the central stripe. The black, yellow and red of the Belgian flag are the colours of the duchy of Brabant, and were adopted in 1831 when the monarchy was founded. The original Dutch colours adopted when Holland declared its independence were orange, white and blue, the colours of the house of Orange, and when and how the orange became red is not quite clear, though it was certainly prior to 1643.The blue and white which form the colouring of the Greek flag shown in our illustration are the colours of the house of Bavaria, and were adopted in 1832, when Prince Otho of Bavaria was elected to the throne of Greece. The stripes are nine in number—five blue and four white—with, in the upper corner of the hoist, a canton bearing a white cross on a blue ground. The flag for the royal navy is similar to that flown by the mercantile marine, with the exception that it has the addition of a golden crown in the centre of the cross. The royal standard is a blue flag with a white cross, on the centre of which the royal arms are imposed. The cross is exactly similar to that in the Danish flag, that is to say, the arms of the cross are not of equal length, the shorter end being in the hoist of the flag.The very simple flag of Switzerland is one of great antiquity, for it was the emblem of the nation as far back as 1339, and probably considerably earlier. In addition to the national flag of the Swiss confederation, each canton has its own cantonal colours. In each case the flag has its stripes disposed horizontally. Basel, for instance, is half black, half white; Berne, half black, half red; Glarus, red, black and white, &c., &c.The Turkish crescent moon and star were the device adopted by Mahomet II. when he captured Constantinople in 1453. Originally they were the symbol of Diana, the patroness of Byzantium, and were adopted by the Ottomans as a triumph, for they had always been the special emblem of Constantinople, and even now in Moscow and elsewhere the crescent emblem and the cross may be seen combined in Russian churches, the crescent badge, of course, indicating the Byzantine origin of the Russian church. The symbol originated at the time of the siege of Constantinople by Philip the father of Alexander the Great, when a night attempt of the besiegers to undermine the walls was betrayed by the light of a crescent moon, and in acknowledgment of their escape the Byzantines raised a statue to Diana, and made her badge the symbol of the city. Both the man-of-war and mercantile marine flags are the same, but the imperial standard of the sultan is scarlet, and bears in its centre the device of the reigning sovereign. This device is known as the “Tughra,” and consists of the name of the sultan, the title of khan, and the epithetal-Muzaffar Daima, which means “the ever victorious.” The origin of the “Tughra” is that the sultan Murad I., who was not of scholarly parts, signed a treaty by wetting his open hand with ink, and pressing it on the paper, the first, second and third fingers making smears close together, the thumb and fourth finger leaving marks apart. Within the marks thus made the scribes wrote in the name of Murad, his title, and the epithet above quoted. The “Tughra” dates from the latter part of the 14th century. The smaller characters in the “Tughra” change, of course, on the accession of every fresh sovereign, but the leading form of the device always remains the same, namely, rounded lines to the left denoting the thumb, lines to the right denoting where the little finger made impression, and three upright lines indicating the other fingers.The Mahommedan states tributary to Turkey also display the crescent and star. Morocco, Muscat and other Arab states where they use an ensign display a red flag, that of the Zanzibar protectorate having the British union in the centre of the red field.The Persian flag is white with a border, green on the upper edge of the flag and in the fly, and red in the hoist and on the lower edge. On the white ground are the lion and sun.The flag of Siam is a white elephant on a red ground. That of Korea, a white flag with, in the centre, a ball, half red, half blue, the colours being curiously intermixed, the whole being precisely as if two large commas of equal size, one red and the other blue, were united to form a complete circle.The Chinese flag is a yellow one, bearing on it the emblem of the dragon devouring the sun. As at present used, it is a square flag, but an earlier version was a triangular right-angled flag, hoisted with the right-angle in the base of the hoist. The merchant flag is red with a yellow ball in the centre.Among the South American republics the Brazilian flag is peculiar inasmuch as it is the only national flag which carries a motto.Mexico flies precisely the same tricolour as Italy, but plain in the case of the merchant ensign, and charged on the central stripe with the Mexican arms (as illustrated) when flown as a man-of-war ensign.The Argentine flag is as illustrated flown by the navy, but, when used by the mercantile marine, the sun emblazoned on the central white stripe is omitted, the flag otherwise being precisely the same.The Venezuelan flag shown is also that of the navy. The flag of the mercantile marine is the same, but the shield bearing the arms of the state is not introduced into the yellow top stripe in the corner near the hoist, as in the naval flag.The Chilean ensign illustrated is used alike by men-of-war and vessels in the mercantile marine, but, when flown as the standard of the president, the Chilean arms and supporters are placed in the centre of the flag.The plain red, white, red in vertical stripes, is the flag of the mercantile marine of Peru, and becomes the naval ensign when charged on the central stripe with the Peruvian arms as shown in our illustration. In fact, in nearly every case with the South American republics, the ordinary mercantile marine flag becomes that of the war navy by the addition of the national arms, and in some cases is used in the same way as a presidential flag.In nearly every case the flags of the lesser American republics are tricolours, and in a very great many of them the flags are by no means such combinations as would meet with the approval of European heralds. All flag devising should be in accordance with heraldic laws, and one of the most important of these is that colour should not be placed on colour, nor metal on metal, yellow in blazonry being the equivalent of gold and white of silver. Hence, properly devised tricolours are such as, for example, those of France, where the red and blue are divided by white, or Belgium, where the black and red are divided by yellow. On the other hand, the yellow, blue, red of Venezuela is heraldically an abomination.
The German imperial navy and mercantile marine flags are next depicted. The “iron cross” in the navy flag is that of the Teutonic Order, and dates from the close of the 12th century. For five centuries black and white have been the Hohenzollern colours, and the first verse of the German war song,Ich bin ein Preusse, runs:—
“I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner?Before me floats my flag of black and white!My fathers died for freedom, ’twas their manner,So say these colours floating in your sight.”
“I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner?
Before me floats my flag of black and white!
My fathers died for freedom, ’twas their manner,
So say these colours floating in your sight.”
The mercantile marine tricolour of black, white and red is emblematic of the joining of the Hohenzollern black and white with the red and white, which was the ensign of the Hanseatic League. This flag came into being when the North German Confederacy was established (November 25th, 1867) at the close of the Austro-Prussian War.
The German imperial standard has the iron cross with its white border displayed on a yellow field, diapered over in each of the four quarters with three black eagles and a crown. In the centre of the cross is a shield bearing the arms of Prussia surmounted by a crown, and surrounded by a collar of the Order of the Black Eagle. In the four arms of the crown are the legendGott mit uns1870. The United States flag and the tricolour of France have already been fully dealt with, and in both countries the one flag is common to both men-of-war and ships of the mercantile marine.
The next depicted are the imperial navy and the mercantile marine flags of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In the latter the introduction of the green half stripe denotes the combination of the Austrian red, white and red with the Hungarian red, white and green. The shields with which the flag is charged contain respectively the arms of Austria and of Hungary. The former shield only is borne on the man-of-war ensign, and displays the heraldic device of the ancient dukes of Austria, which dates back to the year 1191. The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire. The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black.
The green, white and red Italian tricolour was adopted in 1805, when Napoleon I. formed Italy into one kingdom. It was adopted again in 1848 by the Nationalists of the peninsula, accepted by the king of Sardinia, and, charged by him with the arms of Savoy, it became the flag of a united Italy. The man-of-war flag is precisely similar to that of the mercantile marine, except that in the case of the former the shield of Savoy is surmounted by a crown. The royal standard is a blue flag. In the centre is a black eagle crowned and displaying on its breast the arms of Savoy, the whole surrounded by the collar of the Most Sacred Annunziata, the third in rank of all European orders. In each corner of the flag is the royal crown.
For Portugal the flag is one of the few national flags that are parti-coloured. It is half blue, half white, with, in the centre, the arms of Portugal surmounted by the royal crown, and it is the same both in the mercantile marine and in the Portuguese navy. The royal standard of Portugal is an all-red flag charged in the centre with the royal arms, as shown in the national flag.
In the Spanish ensigns red and yellow are the prevailing colours, and here again the arrangement differs from that generally used. The navy flag has a yellow central stripe, with red above and below. To be correct the yellow should be half the width of the flag, and each of the red stripes a quarter of the width of the flag. The central yellow stripe is charged in the hoist with an escutcheon containing the arms of Castile and Leon, and surmounted by the royal crown. In the mercantile flag the yellow centre is without the escutcheon, and is one-third of the entire depth of the flag, the remaining thirds being divided into equal stripes of red and yellow, the yellow above in the upper part of the flag, the red in the lower. Of all royal standards that of Spain is the most elaborate, for it contains quarterings of the Spanish royal escutcheon, many of the bearings being as much an anachronism as if the royal arms of England were to-day to be quartered with thefleur-de-lis. In all, the quarterings displayed are those of Leon, Castile, Aragon, Sicily, Austria, Burgundy, Flanders, Antwerp, Brabant, Portugal and France. The flag is usually depicted as composed entirely of the quarterings. We believe, however, that it is more correctly a purple flag in the centre of which the quarterings are displayed on an oval shield surmounted by a crown and encircled by the collar of the order of the Golden Fleece.
The flag of the Russian mercantile marine is a horizontal tricolour of white, blue and red. Originally, it was a tricolour of blue, white and red, and it is said that the idea of its colouring was taken by Peter the Great when learning shipbuilding in Holland, for as the flag then stood it was simply the Dutch ensign reversed. Later, to make it more distinctive, the blue and white stripes changed places, leaving the tricolour as it stands to-day. The flag of the Russian navy is the blue saltire of St Andrew on a white ground. St Andrew is the patron saint of Russia, from whence the emblem. The imperial standard is of a character akin to that of Austria; the ground is yellow, and the centre bears the imperial double-headed eagle, a badge that dates back to 1472, when Ivan the Great married a niece of Constantine Palaeologus and assumed the arms of the Greek empire. On the breast of the eagle is an escutcheon charged with the emblem of St George and the Dragon on a red ground, and this is surrounded by the collar of the order of St Andrew. On the splayed wings of the eagle are small shields bearing the arms of the various provinces of the empire.
The Rumanian flag is a blue, yellow and red tricolour, the stripes vertical, with the blue stripe forming the fly. The Servian flag is a horizontal tricolour, the top stripe red, the middle blue and the lower white. When these tricolours are flown as royal standards the royal arms are displayed on the central stripe. The flag of Montenegro is a horizontal tricolour, the top stripe red, the centre blue, the lowermost white. The Bulgarian flag is a similar tricolour, white, green and red, the white stripe uppermost, but when flown as a war ensign there is a canton in the upper corner of the hoist in which is a golden lion on a red ground.
The flags of all the three Scandinavian kingdoms are somewhat similar in design. That of Denmark, the Dannebrog, has been already alluded to, and it is shown in our illustration as flown by the Danishnavy. The mercantile marine flag is precisely similar, but rectangular instead of being swallow-tailed. The Swedish flag is a yellow cross on a blue ground. When flown from a man-of-war it is forked as in the Danish, but the longer arm of the cross is not cut off but pointed, thus making it a three-pointed flag as illustrated. For the mercantile marine the flag is rectangular. When Norway separated from Denmark in 1814, the first flag was red with a white cross on it, and the arms of Norway in the upper corner of the hoist, but as this was found to resemble too closely the Danish flag, a blue cross with a white border was substituted for the white cross. This, it will be seen, is the Danish flag with a blue cross imposed upon the white one. For a man-of-war the flag is precisely similar to that of Sweden in shape; that is to say, converted from the rectangular into the three-pointed design. While Sweden and Norway remained united the flag of each remained distinct, but each bore in the top canton of the hoist a union device, being the combination of the Norwegian and Swedish national colours and crosses. In each of the three above nationalities the flag used for a royal standard is the man-of-war flag with the royal arms imposed on the centre of the cross.
The Belgian tricolour is vertical, the stripes being black next the hoist, yellow in the centre and red in the fly. That of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour, red above, white in the centre and blue below. In both countries the same flag is common to both navy and mercantile marine, but when the flag is used as a royal standard the royal arms are displayed in the central stripe. The black, yellow and red of the Belgian flag are the colours of the duchy of Brabant, and were adopted in 1831 when the monarchy was founded. The original Dutch colours adopted when Holland declared its independence were orange, white and blue, the colours of the house of Orange, and when and how the orange became red is not quite clear, though it was certainly prior to 1643.
The blue and white which form the colouring of the Greek flag shown in our illustration are the colours of the house of Bavaria, and were adopted in 1832, when Prince Otho of Bavaria was elected to the throne of Greece. The stripes are nine in number—five blue and four white—with, in the upper corner of the hoist, a canton bearing a white cross on a blue ground. The flag for the royal navy is similar to that flown by the mercantile marine, with the exception that it has the addition of a golden crown in the centre of the cross. The royal standard is a blue flag with a white cross, on the centre of which the royal arms are imposed. The cross is exactly similar to that in the Danish flag, that is to say, the arms of the cross are not of equal length, the shorter end being in the hoist of the flag.
The very simple flag of Switzerland is one of great antiquity, for it was the emblem of the nation as far back as 1339, and probably considerably earlier. In addition to the national flag of the Swiss confederation, each canton has its own cantonal colours. In each case the flag has its stripes disposed horizontally. Basel, for instance, is half black, half white; Berne, half black, half red; Glarus, red, black and white, &c., &c.
The Turkish crescent moon and star were the device adopted by Mahomet II. when he captured Constantinople in 1453. Originally they were the symbol of Diana, the patroness of Byzantium, and were adopted by the Ottomans as a triumph, for they had always been the special emblem of Constantinople, and even now in Moscow and elsewhere the crescent emblem and the cross may be seen combined in Russian churches, the crescent badge, of course, indicating the Byzantine origin of the Russian church. The symbol originated at the time of the siege of Constantinople by Philip the father of Alexander the Great, when a night attempt of the besiegers to undermine the walls was betrayed by the light of a crescent moon, and in acknowledgment of their escape the Byzantines raised a statue to Diana, and made her badge the symbol of the city. Both the man-of-war and mercantile marine flags are the same, but the imperial standard of the sultan is scarlet, and bears in its centre the device of the reigning sovereign. This device is known as the “Tughra,” and consists of the name of the sultan, the title of khan, and the epithetal-Muzaffar Daima, which means “the ever victorious.” The origin of the “Tughra” is that the sultan Murad I., who was not of scholarly parts, signed a treaty by wetting his open hand with ink, and pressing it on the paper, the first, second and third fingers making smears close together, the thumb and fourth finger leaving marks apart. Within the marks thus made the scribes wrote in the name of Murad, his title, and the epithet above quoted. The “Tughra” dates from the latter part of the 14th century. The smaller characters in the “Tughra” change, of course, on the accession of every fresh sovereign, but the leading form of the device always remains the same, namely, rounded lines to the left denoting the thumb, lines to the right denoting where the little finger made impression, and three upright lines indicating the other fingers.
The Mahommedan states tributary to Turkey also display the crescent and star. Morocco, Muscat and other Arab states where they use an ensign display a red flag, that of the Zanzibar protectorate having the British union in the centre of the red field.
The Persian flag is white with a border, green on the upper edge of the flag and in the fly, and red in the hoist and on the lower edge. On the white ground are the lion and sun.
The flag of Siam is a white elephant on a red ground. That of Korea, a white flag with, in the centre, a ball, half red, half blue, the colours being curiously intermixed, the whole being precisely as if two large commas of equal size, one red and the other blue, were united to form a complete circle.
The Chinese flag is a yellow one, bearing on it the emblem of the dragon devouring the sun. As at present used, it is a square flag, but an earlier version was a triangular right-angled flag, hoisted with the right-angle in the base of the hoist. The merchant flag is red with a yellow ball in the centre.
Among the South American republics the Brazilian flag is peculiar inasmuch as it is the only national flag which carries a motto.
Mexico flies precisely the same tricolour as Italy, but plain in the case of the merchant ensign, and charged on the central stripe with the Mexican arms (as illustrated) when flown as a man-of-war ensign.
The Argentine flag is as illustrated flown by the navy, but, when used by the mercantile marine, the sun emblazoned on the central white stripe is omitted, the flag otherwise being precisely the same.
The Venezuelan flag shown is also that of the navy. The flag of the mercantile marine is the same, but the shield bearing the arms of the state is not introduced into the yellow top stripe in the corner near the hoist, as in the naval flag.
The Chilean ensign illustrated is used alike by men-of-war and vessels in the mercantile marine, but, when flown as the standard of the president, the Chilean arms and supporters are placed in the centre of the flag.
The plain red, white, red in vertical stripes, is the flag of the mercantile marine of Peru, and becomes the naval ensign when charged on the central stripe with the Peruvian arms as shown in our illustration. In fact, in nearly every case with the South American republics, the ordinary mercantile marine flag becomes that of the war navy by the addition of the national arms, and in some cases is used in the same way as a presidential flag.
In nearly every case the flags of the lesser American republics are tricolours, and in a very great many of them the flags are by no means such combinations as would meet with the approval of European heralds. All flag devising should be in accordance with heraldic laws, and one of the most important of these is that colour should not be placed on colour, nor metal on metal, yellow in blazonry being the equivalent of gold and white of silver. Hence, properly devised tricolours are such as, for example, those of France, where the red and blue are divided by white, or Belgium, where the black and red are divided by yellow. On the other hand, the yellow, blue, red of Venezuela is heraldically an abomination.
Manufacture and Miscellaneous Uses.—Flags, the manufacture, of which is quite a large industry, are almost invariably made from bunting, a very light, tough and durable woollen material. The regulation bunting as used in the navy is made in 9 in. widths, and the flag classes in size according to the number of breadths of bunting of which it is composed. The great centre of the manufacture of flags, as far as the royal navy is concerned, is the dockyard at Chatham. Ensigns and Jacks are made in different sizes; the largest ensign made is 33 ft. long by 16½ ft. in width; the largest Jack issued is 24 ft. long and 12 ft. wide.
The dimensions of a flag according to heraldry should be either square or in the proportion of two to one, and it is this latter dimension that is used in the navy and generally.
Signalling flags are dealt with elsewhere (seeSignal), and here it will only be necessary to make brief allusion to some international customs with regard to the use of flags to indicate certain purposes. For long a blood-red flag has always been used as a symbol of mutiny or of revolution. The black flag was in days gone by the symbol of the pirate; to-day, in the only case in which it survives, it is flown after an execution to indicate that the requirements of the law have been duly carried out. All over the world a yellow flag is the signal of infectious illness. A ship hoists it to denote that there are some on board suffering from yellow fever, cholera or some such infectious malady, and it remains hoisted until she has received quarantine. This flag is also hoisted on quarantine stations. The white flag is universally used as a flag of truce.
At the sea striking of the flag denotes surrender. When the flag of one country is placed over that of another the victory of the former is denoted, hence in time of peace it would be an insult to hoist the flag of one friendly nation above that of another. If such were done by mistake, say in “dressing ship” for instance, an apology would have to be made. This custom of hoisting the flag of the vanquished beneath that of the victor is of comparatively modern date, as up to about a century ago the sign of victory was to trail the enemy’s flag over the taffrail in the water.Each national flag must be flown from its own flagstaff, and this is often seen when the allied forces of two or more powers are in joint occupation of a town or territory. To denote honour and respect a flag is “dipped.” Ships at sea salute each other by “dipping” the flag, that is to say, by running it smartly down from the masthead, and then as quickly replacing it. When troops parade before the sovereign the regimental flags are lowered as they salute him. A flag flying half-mast high is the universal symbol of mourning. When a ship has to make the signal of distress, this is done by hoisting the national ensign reversed, that is to say, upside down. If it is wished to accentuate the imminence of the danger it is done by making the flag into a “weft,” that is, by knotting it in the middle. This means of showing distress at sea is of very ancient usage, for in naval works written as far back as the reign of James I. we find the “weft” mentioned as a method of showing distress.
We have already alluded to the Union Jack as used for denoting nationality, and as a flag of command, but it also serves many other purposes. For instance, if a court-martial is being held on board any ship the Union Jack is displayed while the court is sitting, its hoisting being accompanied by the firing of a gun. In a fleet in company the ship that has the guard for the day flies it. With a white border it forms the signal for a pilot, and in this case is known as a Pilot Jack. In all combinations of signalling flags which denote a ship’s name the Union Jack forms a unit. Lastly, it figures as the pall of every sailor or soldier of the empire who receives naval or military honours at his funeral.
Bibliography.—SeeFlags: Some Account of their History and Uses, by A. MacGeorge (1881);National Banners: Their History and Construction, by W. Bland (1892) (one of a series of Heraldic Tracts, 1850-1892, Br. Museum Library, No. 9906, b. 9; this pamphlet gives the design of the national banners of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick, and illustrates and tells the story of the composition of the three flags into the great union flag, commonly known as the Union Jack);Our Flags: Their Origin, Use and Traditions, by Rear-Admiral S. Eardley-Wilmot (1901), an excellent treatise, historical and narrative, on all the flags of the British empire;A History of the Flag of the United States(Boston, 1872), by G.H. Preble;Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry and Associations, by Edward Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A. (1897), a most complete monograph on the subject, illustrated with a very complete series of plates;Admiralty Book of Flags of all Nations, printed for H.M. Stationery office, 1889, kept up to date by the publication periodically of Errata, officially issued under an admiralty covering letter;Flags of Maritime Nations, prepared by the Bureau of Equipment department of the navy, printed by authority (Washington, 1899). The last two works have no letterpress beyond titles, but contain, to scale, delineations of all the flags at present used officially by all nations. Between the two there are no discrepancies, and the delineation of a flag taken from either may be assumed as absolutely correct. Both are respectively the guides for flag construction in the royal navy and the United States navy.
Bibliography.—SeeFlags: Some Account of their History and Uses, by A. MacGeorge (1881);National Banners: Their History and Construction, by W. Bland (1892) (one of a series of Heraldic Tracts, 1850-1892, Br. Museum Library, No. 9906, b. 9; this pamphlet gives the design of the national banners of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick, and illustrates and tells the story of the composition of the three flags into the great union flag, commonly known as the Union Jack);Our Flags: Their Origin, Use and Traditions, by Rear-Admiral S. Eardley-Wilmot (1901), an excellent treatise, historical and narrative, on all the flags of the British empire;A History of the Flag of the United States(Boston, 1872), by G.H. Preble;Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry and Associations, by Edward Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A. (1897), a most complete monograph on the subject, illustrated with a very complete series of plates;Admiralty Book of Flags of all Nations, printed for H.M. Stationery office, 1889, kept up to date by the publication periodically of Errata, officially issued under an admiralty covering letter;Flags of Maritime Nations, prepared by the Bureau of Equipment department of the navy, printed by authority (Washington, 1899). The last two works have no letterpress beyond titles, but contain, to scale, delineations of all the flags at present used officially by all nations. Between the two there are no discrepancies, and the delineation of a flag taken from either may be assumed as absolutely correct. Both are respectively the guides for flag construction in the royal navy and the United States navy.
(H. L. S.)
1By the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907 the number of stars became 46, arranged from the top in horizontal rows thus: 8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8 = 46.
1By the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907 the number of stars became 46, arranged from the top in horizontal rows thus: 8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8 = 46.
FLAGELLANTS(from Lat.flagellare, to whip), in religion, the name given to those who scourge themselves, or are scourged, by way of discipline or penance. Voluntary flagellation, as a form of exalted devotion, occurs in almost all religions. According to Herodotus (ii. 40. 61), it was the custom of the ancient Egyptians to beat themselves during the annual festival in honour of their goddess Isis. In Sparta children were flogged before the altar of Artemis Orthia till the blood flowed (Plutarch,Instit. Laced.40). At Alea, in the Peloponnese, women were flogged in the temple of Dionysus (Pausanias, Arcad. 23). The priests of Cybele, orarchigalli, submitted to the discipline in the temple of the goddess (Plutarch,Adv. Colot.p. 1127; Apul.,Metam.viii. 173). At the Roman Lupercalia women were flogged by the celebrants to avert sterility or as a purificatory ceremony (W. Mannhardt,Mythol. Forsch., Strassburg, 1884, p. 72 seq.).
Ritual flagellation existed among the Jews, and, according to Buxtorf (Synagoga judaica, Basel, 1603), was one of the ceremonies of the day of the Great Pardon. In the Christian church flagellation was originally a punishment, and was practised not only by parents and schoolmasters, but also by bishops, who thus corrected offending priests and monks (St Augustine,Ep. 159 ad Marcell.; cf.Conc. Agd.506, can. ii.). Gradually, however, voluntary flagellation appeared in thelibri poenitentialesas a very efficacious means of penance. In the 11th century this new form of devotion was extolled by some of the most ardent reformers in the monastic houses of the west, such as Abbot Popon of Stavelot, St Dominic Loricatus (so called from his practice of wearing next his skin an ironlorica, or cuirass of thongs), and especially Cardinal Pietro Damiani. Damiani advocated the substitution of flagellation for the recitation of the penitential psalms, and drew up a scale according to which 1000 strokes were equivalent to ten psalms, and 15,000 to the whole psalter. The majority of these reformers exemplified their preaching in their own persons, and St Dominic gained great renown by inflicting upon himself 300,000 strokes in six days. The custom of collective flagellation was introduced into the monastic houses, the ceremony taking place every Friday after confession.
The early Franciscans flagellated themselves with characteristic rigour, and it is no matter of surprise to find the Franciscan, St Anthony of Padua, preaching the praises of this means of penance. It is incorrect, however, to suppose that St Anthony took any part in the creation of the flagellant fraternities, which were the result of spontaneous popular movements, and later than the great Franciscan preacher; while Ranieri, a monk of Perugia, to whom the foundation of these strange communities has been attributed, was merely the leader of the flagellant brotherhood in that region. About 1259 these fraternities were distributed over the greater part of northern Italy. The contagion spread very rapidly, extending as far as the Rhine provinces, and, across Germany, into Bohemia. Day and night, long processions of all classes and ages, headed by priests carrying crosses and banners, perambulated the streets in double file, reciting prayers and drawing the blood from their bodies with leathern thongs. The magistrates in some of the Italian towns, and especially Uberto Pallavicino at Milan, expelled the flagellants with threats, and for a time the sect disappeared. The disorders of the 14th century, however, the numerous earthquakes, and the Black Death, which had spread over the greater part of Europe, produced a condition of ferment and mystic fever which was very favourable to a recrudescence of morbid forms of devotion. The flagellants reappeared, and made the state of religious trouble in Germany, provoked by the struggle between the papacy and Louis of Bavaria, subserve their cause. In the spring of 1349 bands of flagellants, perhaps from Hungary, began their propaganda in the south of Germany. Each band was under the command of a leader, who was assisted by two lieutenants; and obedience to the leader was enjoined upon every member on entering the brotherhood. The flagellants paid for their own personal maintenance, but were allowed to accept board and lodging, if offered. The penance lasted 33½ days, during which they flogged themselves with thongs fitted with four iron points. They read letters which they said had fallen from heaven, and which threatened the earth with terrible punishments if men refused to adopt the mode of penance taught by the flagellants. On several occasions they incited the populations of the towns through which they passed against the Jews, and also against the monks who opposed their propaganda. Many towns shut their gates upon them; but, in spite of discouragement, they spread from Poland to the Rhine, and penetrated as far as Holland and Flanders. Finally, a band of 100 marched from Basel to Avignon to the court of Pope Clement VI., who, in spite of the sympathy shown them by several of his cardinals, condemned the sect as constituting a menace to the priesthood. On the 20th of October 1349 Clement published a bull commanding the bishops and inquisitors to stamp out the growing heresy, and in pursuance of the pope’s orders numbers of the sectaries perished at the stake or in the cells of the inquisitors and the episcopal justices. In 1389 the leader of a flagellant band in Italy called thebianchiwas burned by order of the pope, and his following dispersed. In 1417, however, the Spanish Dominican St Vincent Ferrer pleaded the cause of the flagellants with great warmth at the council of Constance, and elicited a severe reply from John Gerson(Epistola ad Vincentium), who declared that the flagellants were showing a tendency to slight the sacramental confession and penance, were refusing to perform thecultusof the martyrs venerated by the church, and were even alleging their own superiority to the martyrs.
The justice of Gerson’s protest was borne out by events. In Germany, in 1414, there was a recrudescence of the epidemic of flagellation, which then became a clearly-formulated heresy. A certain Conrad Schmidt placed himself at the head of a community of Thuringian flagellants, who took the name of Brethren of the Cross. Schmidt gave himself out as the incarnation of Enoch, and prophesied the approaching fall of the Church of Rome, the overthrow of the ancient sacraments, and the triumph of flagellation as the only road to salvation. Numbers of Beghards joined the Brethren of the Cross, and the two sects were confounded in the rigorous persecution conducted in Germany by the inquisitor Eylard Schöneveld, who almost annihilated the flagellants. This mode of devotion, however, held its ground among the lower ranks of Catholic piety. In the 16th century it subsisted in Italy, Spain and southern France. Henry III. of France met with it in Provence, and attempted to acclimatize it at Paris, where he formed bands divided into various orders, each distinguished by a different colour. The king and his courtiers joined in the processions in the garb of penitents, and scourged themselves with ostentation. The king’s encouragement seemed at first to point to a successful revival of flagellation; but the practice disappeared along with the other forms of devotion that had sprung up at the time of the league, and Henry III.’s successor suppressed the Paris brotherhood. Flagellation was occasionally practised as a means of salvation by certain Jansenist convulsionaries in the 18th century, and also, towards the end of the 18th century, by a little Jansenist sect known as the Fareinists, founded by the brothers Bonjour,curésof Fareins, near Trévoux (Ain). In 1820 a band of flagellants appeared during a procession at Lisbon; and in the Latin countries, at the season of great festivals, one may still see brotherhoods of penitents flagellating themselves before the assembled faithful.
For an account of flagellation in antiquity see S. Reinach,Cultes, mythes et religions(vol. i. pp. 173-183, 1906), which contains a bibliography of the subject. For a bibliography of the practice in medieval times, see M. Röhricht, “Bibliographische Beiträge zur Gesch. der Geissler” inBriegers Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, i. 313.
For an account of flagellation in antiquity see S. Reinach,Cultes, mythes et religions(vol. i. pp. 173-183, 1906), which contains a bibliography of the subject. For a bibliography of the practice in medieval times, see M. Röhricht, “Bibliographische Beiträge zur Gesch. der Geissler” inBriegers Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, i. 313.
(P. A.)
FLAGELLATA,the name given to the Protozoa whose dominant phase is a “flagellula,” or cell-body provided with one, few or rarely many long actively vibratile, cytoplasmic processes. Nutrition is variable:—(1) “Holozoic”; food taken in by ingestion, by amoeboid action either unspecialized or at one or more well-defined oral spots, or through an aperture (mouth); (2) “Saprophytic”; food taken in in solution through the general surface of the body; (3) “Holophytic”; food-material formed in the coloured plasm by fixation of carbon from the medium, with liberation of oxygen, in presence of light, as in green plants. Fission in the “active” state occurs and is usually longitudinal. Multiple fission rarely occurs save in a sporocyst, and produces microzoospores, which in some cases may conjugate with others as isogametes or with larger forms (megagametes). “Hypnocysts” to tide over unfavourable conditions are not infrequent, but have no necessary relation to reproduction. Many have a firm pellicle which may form a hard shell: again a distinct cell-wall of chitin or cellulose may be formed: finally, an open cup, “theca,” of firm or gelatinous material may be present, with or without a stalk: such a cup and stalk are often found in colonial species, and are subject to much the same conditions as in Infusoria. The nucleus is simple in most cases; but in Haemoflagellates it is connected with a second nucleus, which again is in immediate relation with the motile apparatus; the former is termed the “tropho-nucleus,” the latter the “kineto-nucleus.”
1.Chlamydomonas pulvisculus, Ehr. (Chlamydomonadidae) free-swimming individual.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= starch corpuscle.d= cellulose investment.e= stigma (eye-spot).
2. Resting stage of the same, with fourfold division of the cell-contents. Letters as before.
3. Breaking up of the cell-contents into minute biflagellate swarm-spores, which escape, and whose history is not further known.
4.Syncrypta volvox, Ehr. (Chrysomonadidae). A colony enclosed by a common gelatinous test c.a= stigma.b= vacuole (non-contractile).
5.Uroglena volvox, Ehr. (Chrysomonadidae). Half of a large colony, the flagellates embedded in a common jelly.
6.Chlorogonium euchlorum, Ehr. (Chlamydomonadidae).a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= starch grain.d= eye-spot.
7.Chlorogonium euchlorum, Ehr. (Chlamydomonadidae). Copulation of two liberated microgonidia.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.d= eye-spot (so-called).
8. Colony ofDinobryon sertularia, Ehr. (Chrysomonadidae).
9.Haematococcus palustris, Girod (=Chlamydococcus, Braun,Protococcus, Cohn), one of theChrysomonadidae; ordinary individual with widely separated test.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= amylon nucleus (pyrenoid).
10. Dividing resting stage of the same, with eight fission products in the common test e.
11. A microgonidium of the same.
12.Phalansterium consociatum, Cienk. (Choanoflagellata); × 325. Disk-like colony.
13.Euglena viridis, Ehr.; × 300 (Euglenidae).a= pigment spot (stigma).b= clear space.c= paramylum granules.d= chromatophor (endochrome plate).
14.Gonium pectorale, O. F. Müller (Volvocineae). Colony seen from the flat side; × 300.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= amylon nucleus.
15.Dinobryon sertularia, Ehr. (Chrysomonadidae).a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= amylon nucleus.d= free colourless flagellates, probably not belonging to Dinobryon.e= stigma (eye-spot).f= chromatophors.
16.Peranema trichophorum, Ehr. (Peranemidae), creeping individual seen from the back; × 140.c= pharynx.d= mouth.
17. Anterior end ofEuglena acus, Ehr., in profile.a= mouth.b= vacuoles.c= pharynx.d= stigma (eye-spot).e= paramylum-body.f= chlorophyll corpuscles.
18. Part of the surface of a colony ofVolvox globator, L. (Volvocidae), showing the intercellular connective fibrils.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= starch granule.
19. Two microgametes (spermatozoa) ofVolvox globator, L.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.
20. Ripe asexually produced daughter-individual ofVolvox minor, Stein, still enclosed in the cyst of the partheno-gonidium.a= young, partheno-gonidia.
21. 22.Trypanosoma sanguinis, Gruby (Haematoflagellates), from the blood ofRana esculenta.a= nucleus; × 500.
23-26. Reproduction ofBodo caudatus, Duj. (Bodonidae), after Dallinger and Drysdale:—23, fusion of several individuals (plasmodium); 24, encysted fusion-product dividing into four; 25, later into eight; 26, cyst filled with swarm-spores.
27.Distigma proteus, Ehbg., O.F. Müller (Euglenidae); × 440. Individual with the two flagella, and strongly contracting hinder region of the body.
28. The same devoid of flagella.c,c= the two dark pigment spots (so-called eyes) near the mouth.
29.Oicomonas termo(Monas termo) Ehr. (one of theOicomonadidae).c= food-ingesting vacuole.d= food-particle; × 440.
30. The food-particledhas now been ingested by the vacuole.
31.Oicomonas mutabilis, Kent (Oicomonadidae), with adherent stalk.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuole.c= food-particle in food vacuole.
32, 33.Cercomonas crassicauda, Duj. (Oicomonadidae), showing two conditions of the pseudo-podium-protruding tail.a= nucleus.b= contractile vacuoles.c= mouth.
As reserves the protoplasm may contain oil, starch, paramylum, leucosin (a substance soluble in water, and of doubtful composition), proteid granules. In the holophytic forms the cytoplasm contains specialized parts of more or less definite form,known generally as “plastids” or “chromatophores” impregnated with a lipochrome pigment, whether green (chlorophyll), yellow or brown (diatomin or some allied pigment), or again red (chlorophyll with phycoerythrin). In the active condition of such coloured holophytic forms there is usually at least one anterior “eye-spot,” of a refractive globule embedded behind in a collection of red pigment granules. The single anterior “flagellum tractellum” of so many of the larger forms acts by the bending over of its free end in consecutive meridians, so as to describe a hollow cone with its apex backwards: we may imitate this by bending the head of a slender sapling round and round while it is implanted in the soil; and the result is to push the water backwards, or in other words to pull the body forwards, the whole rotating on its longitudinal axis as it moves on (Y. Delage). An anterior lateral trailing flagellum may modify this axial rotation, and help in steering. When the animal is at rest—attached by its base or with its body so curved as to resist onward motion—the current produced by the tractellum will bring suspended particles up against the protoplasm at its base of insertion. As noted by E.R. Lankester, the posterior flagellum of many Haemoflagellates, like that of the spermatozoon of Metazoa, propels the cell by a sculling motion behind; he terms it a “pulsellum.” Such flagellar motion is distinct from that of cilia, which always move backwards and forwards, with a swift downstroke and a slower recovery in the same plane; though where the flagella are numerous they may behave in this way, and indeed flagella agree with cilia in being mere vibratory extensions of cytoplasm. Symmetrically placed flagella may have a symmetrical reciprocating motion like that of cilia.
Many of the Flagellata are parasitic (some haematozoic); the majority live in the midst of putrefying organic matter in sea and fresh waters, but are not known to be active as agents of putrefaction. Dallinger and Drysdale have shown that the spores ofBodoand others will survive an exposure to a higher temperature than do any known Schizomycetes (Bacteria), viz. 250° to 300° Fahr., for ten minutes, although the adults are killed at 180°.
The Flagellata are for the most part very minute; the Protomastigopoda rarely exceeding 20 μ in length. The Euglenaceae contain the largest species, up to 130 μ in length, exclusive of the flagellum.
Our classification is modified from those of Senn (in Engler and Prantl,Pflanzenfamilien) and Hartog (inCambridge Natural History).