More Than a Piece of Cloth
Today marks a significant day, for our flag waves especially vigorously this day. It flutters on the flagpole at the entrance to our property. Meanwhile, on the breezeless moon, our resplendent national standard with the help of some aluminum rods imitates the
one in our yard. Following fifty years of ultraviolet radiation, extreme cycles of hot and cold, and micrometeorite bombardment, it along with other American flags that keep vigil there are likely tattered and bleached of all color due to the harsh environment. Made of simple nylon, they must be in pretty rough shape. The liftoff of the return module carrying Apollo astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin may have even forced theirs to the ground. Ragged as these flags may be, as so many that proceeded them fluttering over places like Fort Sumter and Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi have been, they loom large in history wherever they may have flown.
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“Stars & Stripes” on the Moon |
one in our yard. Following fifty years of ultraviolet radiation, extreme cycles of hot and cold, and micrometeorite bombardment, it along with other American flags that keep vigil there are likely tattered and bleached of all color due to the harsh environment. Made of simple nylon, they must be in pretty rough shape. The liftoff of the return module carrying Apollo astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin may have even forced theirs to the ground. Ragged as these flags may be, as so many that proceeded them fluttering over places like Fort Sumter and Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi have been, they loom large in history wherever they may have flown.
There is reason for this jubilation. It happens to be July 4th, essentially the USA’s compleanno (birthday), making us a whopping 245 years old. While the Declaration of Independence was voted on and approved by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress on 2 July 1776, it wasn’t until the 4th that it was announced. Tradition says that early American upholsterer Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross made our flag. She would often relate to family members of a fateful day, late in May of 1776, when three members of a
secret committee from the Continental Congress came to her door. (1) It was during this visit that representatives George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross asked her to sew the first American flag that would go into battle with the fledgling American forces and today rests on the moon.
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Betsy Ross |
As to the symbolism in its color choices, the Continental Congress left no record as to why it chose the colors red, white, and blue. According to legend, George Washington interpreted the elements of the flag as follows: the white stars were taken from heaven, the red from the British colors, and the white stripes signified their secession from the home country. However, a flag’s colors are but one of its defining elements. There are 195 nations in the world today, each with its own standard. If we recognize a flag’s national roots at all, it can arouse a montage of feelings. Whether positive, neutral, or negative, a flag can impart many contemplative dimensions. It may strike a chord within us ranging from our impression of how we feel about that country to a deep-seated emotional response, maybe a sense of pride, or perhaps kindle the recollection of some nostalgic memory, all the way to the neutrality of no precise sentiment at all. For others, a flag can go so far as to instill a willingness to die for its personal meaning. More than a simple piece of cloth then, a flag’s symbolism spans time and events.
Following the dissolution of the Roman Empire, the peninsula even then referred to as Italia, was fractured into numerous independent city-states that vied for power and dominance. Frequent incursions by foreign powers and the presence of the powerful Papal States only added to the turmoil and kept the formation of a unified Italy at bay. Italy had never had a
tradition of political unity. Each of these competing entities had its own colors. With an author’s wave of a hand, stating it exceedingly simply: with the upheavals of war, revolution, and the consequences of peace over time, a gradual coalescence occurred. In the ugly process of this movement toward national unity, the configuration of an Italian flag gradually emerged. It has gone through many variations to arrive at the green, white, and red national banner we know today. The national flag of Italy is often referred to as il Tricolore in Italian. It features three equally sized vertical panels of green, white, and red inspired from the French revolution with the green panel closest to what is referred to as the “hoist side.” This square-shaped pendant was adopted by the Cisalpine Republic, a sister republic of France established by Napoleon in 1798, governed from Milan.
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Square Cisalpine Republic |
tradition of political unity. Each of these competing entities had its own colors. With an author’s wave of a hand, stating it exceedingly simply: with the upheavals of war, revolution, and the consequences of peace over time, a gradual coalescence occurred. In the ugly process of this movement toward national unity, the configuration of an Italian flag gradually emerged. It has gone through many variations to arrive at the green, white, and red national banner we know today. The national flag of Italy is often referred to as il Tricolore in Italian. It features three equally sized vertical panels of green, white, and red inspired from the French revolution with the green panel closest to what is referred to as the “hoist side.” This square-shaped pendant was adopted by the Cisalpine Republic, a sister republic of France established by Napoleon in 1798, governed from Milan.
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Flag of
the Italian Republic |
By 1802, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the designchanged, although the colors remained the same. Still square,a white rhombus with a green square superimposed at its center was added to the flag. Three years later, Napoleon’s Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy. Along with this political change, its square shape became rectangular with Napoleon’s eagle prominent at its center.
It was not until 1848 that the independent Italian states were united under one flag. That’s when the tricolor flag became the national Italian flag. In this iteration, it returned to the original vertical stripes of red, white, and green with the addition of the coat of arms of the House of Savoia at its center. It stayed this way until 1872 when King Vittorio Emanuele II added a crown to the center above the Savoia coat of arms. The House of Savoy led the unification of Italy in 1860 and ruled the
Kingdom of Italy until 1946 when Italy officially ended its monarchy. To mark this historic ending, the crown and coat of arms were removed. While there had been other variations beyond those I’ve mentioned, the turbulence of the flag’s design, a reflection of the turmoil across Italy, had gone full circle and united the country by returning to the green, white, and red vertical stripes of the earlier Cisalpine Republic’s flag.
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Kingdom
of Italy Flag |
Kingdom of Italy until 1946 when Italy officially ended its monarchy. To mark this historic ending, the crown and coat of arms were removed. While there had been other variations beyond those I’ve mentioned, the turbulence of the flag’s design, a reflection of the turmoil across Italy, had gone full circle and united the country by returning to the green, white, and red vertical stripes of the earlier Cisalpine Republic’s flag.
As a side note, Italians do not outwardly appaer as proud
of their flag as Americans are of the Stars & Stripes. It’s rare to see a house with an Italian flag by the front door. However, Italians are serious minded about their flag and would never destroy their flag as some Americans are wont to do. Italian laws make it a crime to “insult” their flag. Unlike in the USA, where you can essentially trash the flag, in Italy, it is forbidden to burn, destroy or damage their flag. A 1,000-10,000 euro fine can result. Punishment is especially harsh if a violation happens during a festivity or official ceremony. Anyone who publicly and intentionally destroys, throws away, damages, makes useless, or even stains their national flag can be punished with a two-year jail sentence. (2)
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1872
Flag with Savoia Coat of Arms and Crown |
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Garibaldi
with of South American Gaucho Influence Apparent |
The unification of the Italian states into one nation is known as the Risorgimento. It means "Resurgence". This political and social movement resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian peninsula into the Kingdom of Italy. (5) One Italian patriot who played an important role in this movement toward Italian freedom had a little known link to the history of the United States. His name was Giuseppe Garibaldi, and his life was that of a guerrilla fighter for independence wherever needed. After participating in a failed mutiny in Piedmont against the Austrians, he was sentenced to death, but he escaped by sailing to South America and spent 14 years in exile there. (3)
He returned to Italy during the turmoil of the Revolutions of 1848 to organize the Red Shirt volunteer corps. (4) He came to the aid of the city of Milan but soon had to retreat to Switzerland. In 1854 he returned to Italy from a self-imposed period of exile in France, the US, and Peru to settle in Sardinia in semi-retirement. By 1860 as a major general in the Piedmontese army, Garibaldi had liberated Sicily and Naples, which together formed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Refusing the titles and rewards offered him,
he gave up his veritable dictatorship to King Victor Emmanuel, whom he felt could bring the various regions together into a united Italy. From there he returned to his longtime home on Caprera, an island offshore from Sardinia. It was there that a little-known interlude of negotiations with the USA played out.
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The
Kingdom of Two Sicilies |
he gave up his veritable dictatorship to King Victor Emmanuel, whom he felt could bring the various regions together into a united Italy. From there he returned to his longtime home on Caprera, an island offshore from Sardinia. It was there that a little-known interlude of negotiations with the USA played out.
My story of Garibaldi is drawn from the annals of history, that passage to a lost world, here still young enough to be remembered. It is the record of what passed in a secret mission between the still young Atlantis, America, and its dealings with the greatest guerrilla fighter and symbol of national unification at the time, General Garibaldi. Those primarily involved in this intriguing affair included:
Secretary of State William H. Seward.
U.S. Minister to Belgium Henry Shelton Sanford.
Red Shirt, close friend and advisor to Garibaldi,
Colonel Augusto Vecchi.
Pennsylvania lawyer, politician, and American Consul in Antwerp, James W. Quiggle.
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Caprera,
Connected by Bridge to the Bigger Island of Maddalena off of Sardinia |
The behind the scenes dealings had their beginning after the defeat of the Union Army at Bull Run (July 1861) just outside Washington. This was the first major battle of the American Civil War. What became known as “the picnic battle,” where civilians loaded picnic baskets in their buggies and drove across the Potomac to supposedly watch “Johnny Reb” get trounced, had been anything but a picnic. In the aftermath, many in the North were shocked by the realization that they faced a protracted war that would not be won as easily as they had thought. A strong sense that they faced more than just a rebellion emerged. With the disastrous defeat of the Union Army, a real war had begun not something that could easily be put down. It was a critical moment as Europe, especially dependent on American cotton from the Confederate States, assessed its support for either side.
The failure of General George McClellan to successfully lead the Army of the Potomac in combat highlighted the need for the military leadership of a courageous, determined, and proven general if the Union was to be saved. Thus, necessity set in motion one of the most audacious diplomatic missions in American history. (6) It is often reported that the US, in particular President Lincoln, initiated an offer to Garibaldi to volunteer his services during our civil war but that isn’t exactly how events unfolded. His was the second offer. While it is true that the very popular Garibaldi was offered a major general's commission in the U. S. Army through a letter from Secretary of State William Seward through the U. S. Minister at Brussels, Henry Sanford on 17 July 1861, there is more to this hush-hush story.
Events began to unfold in January of 1861 even before the Battle of Bull Run. A reporter for the North American Review, Henry Tuckerman, penned an article in praise of Garibaldi for his exploits that made its way to the quiet, wind-swept, rocky island of Caprera. In return, Garibaldi asked his friend Colonel Vecchi to write a thank-you letter to Tuckerman. It was in this reply that Vecchi took it upon himself to float the idea that Garibaldi be allowed to offer his skill as a general in the Union Army. The message on its way, Vecchi now broached the subject over dinner with Garibaldi and a few other exiled veterans present at his island estate. It was more a fire-for-effect proposal than an admission that an entreaty was already on its way. Luckily for Vecchi, Garibaldi did not reject the idea as inappropriate or at odds with his thinking . He thanked Vecchi for making the suggestion but counseled that “North Americans are a proud people and would receive with bad grace foreign aid that was uninvited." (6) This offer of support to the Union Army on Vecchi’s part, now tacitly supported by Garibaldi, soon made its rounds in the press on both sides of the Atlantic.
For all we know, but for another unauthorized move, it may have died a peaceful death, but it didn’t. Enter self-seeking James W. Quiggle, the US Council in Antwerp. Here was a noteworthy character interested in advancement if not his survival. Before his appointment by President James Buchanan as council, James Quiggle had previously been a Pennsylvania lawyer, State Department Attorney General, and a US Senator. With Lincoln’s election, a change-out in government personnel abroad was underway and Quiggle, anticipating his removal, injected himself without authorization into what he saw as an opportunity after reading newspaper reports on the Garibaldi rumors.
Garibaldi’s first interaction with Quiggle was therefore not something officially sanctioned through State Department channels. On 8 June 1861, Quiggle wrote the following words of encouragement to Guiseppe”:
“The papers report that you are going to the United States, to join the army of the North in the conflict of my country. If you do, the name of LaFayette will not surpass yours. There are thousands of Italians and Hungarians who will rush to your ranks, and there are thousands and tens of thousands of American citizens who will glory to be under the command of the “Washington of Italy.” I would thank you to let me know if this is really your intention. If it be I will resign my position here as Consul and join you.” (6)
The general, unaware that Quiggle was out of a job, took him seriously and by 27 June Quiggle received the following reply:
“… the news given in the journals that I am going to the United States is not exact. I have had, and still have, a great desire to go, but many causes prevent me. If, however, in writing to your Government, [you find that] they believe my service to be of some use, I would go to America, if I did not find myself occupied in the defense of my country.” (6)
Then, somewhat in surprise, Garibaldi asked:
“Tell me, also, whether this agitation is the emancipation of the negroes or not?” (6)
He would later clearly indicate that he would accept an invitation by President Lincoln to fight for the Union if the President intended to abolish slavery. Garibaldi had fought for freedom of the individual that transcended race throughout his life. Ever the straight shooter, he was as averse to slavery as American abolitionist John Brown of Harper’s Ferry fame had been. In 1787, framers of the new Constitution put off resolving the deadlock over slavery until a future date, apparently to achieve a consensus with southern states. In this compromise, Congress would have the power to ban the slave trade but not until 1800. At the ratifying convention, the date was pushed out to 1808 (at which time the import of slaves ended). (7) In 1861, Lincoln was not ready to make a sweeping condemnation of slavery. That would have to wait two more years. It would not be until a civil war had been fought and the enactment of the 13th and 14th amendments to that constitution before slavery was officially ended.
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Paolo, Garibaldi, and Maria Elena on Maddalena Island Before Visiting Garibaldi’s Home on Neighboring Caprera |
In a second unofficial correspondence of 4 July 1861, coincidentally Garibaldi’s birthday, Quiggle downplayed the issue of slavery saying that the matter might be resolved by the outcome of the war:
“ … You have lived in the United States; and you must readily have observed what a dreadful calamity it would be to throw at once upon that country in looseness, four millions of slaves. But if this war be prosecuted with the bitterness with which it has been commenced, I would not be surprised if it results in the extinction of slavery in the United States, no matter what may be the circumstances.” (6)
In a follow-on letter, he informed Garibaldi that he would receive a formal invitation to go to the US where Lincoln would offer him “the highest Army Commission which it is in the power of the President to confer.” (6) He concluded with the false statement that President Lincoln had thanked Quiggle for initiating the offer. At this point, now deep into the issue, freelancing Quiggle thought it best to inform Secretary of State Seward. Imagine the reaction when Seward received it and then most likely walked it into the President’s Office.
Quiggle, his bags now packed, was politely pushed aside in a formal dismissal and told to keep his mouth shut. Quiggle may have overreached in his attempt to draft Garibaldi, but he got the ball rolling. While adamant that the outgoing Quiggle had gone way beyond his authority, there was excitement over the possibility of obtaining the services of the famous and popular Italian general who just might save the United States, especially in the aftermath of Bull Run. Picking up the official baton and making the offer were two experienced diplomats — George Perkins Marsh, first American Minister to the new Kingdom of Italy, and the Minister to Belgium, Henry Sanford.
While government “transparency” nowadays is a hot topic, the offer was thought so sensitive a matter that all related dispatches between Washington and its ministers in Europe were excluded from the twenty-volume Diplomatic Correspondence of the War published by Congress long afterward. There was more behind the scenes than the messages indicated. While it was officially unofficial, this initiative could affect dealings with the Pope and the Papal States who saw Garibaldi as uncontrollable and too secular for their liking, as well as disturb relations throughout Europe and emerging revolutionary governments abroad who were considering recognizing the Confederate States. Yet if it could be pulled off, the war might be shortened, the emancipation of American slaves hastened, and the Union saved. (7)
The assistance of Garibaldi was thought a good match for he had an early link to the United States. Was it more than a coincidence that he had been born on July 4, Independence Day? He’d also been welcomed to America from his wandering exile following the fall of the newly proclaimed Roman Republic in 1849. While being pursued by the armies of France, Austria, and Spain, Garibaldi had escaped to Genoa. On the run, he eventually boarded an American vessel in England and sailed for New York where he remained in exile for approximately a year. It was while still in quarantine in Tompkinsville, NY on 30 July 1850, that the Italian flag was raised in greeting. He lived on Staten Island as a candle maker and later captained a ship out of New York Harbor and though not a citizen, he carried an American passport. It was thought that his super-star charisma in the large American immigrant communities would see men flock to his call to serve in the Union Army.
On 27 July 1861, Secretary of State Seward sent written instructions to Minister Sanford.
“I wish you to proceed at once and enter into communication with the distinguished Soldier of Freedom. Say to him that this government believes his services in its present contest for the unity and liberty of the American People, would be exceedingly useful, and that, therefore, they are earnestly desired and invited. Tell him that this government believes he will, if possible, accept this call, because it is too certain that the fall of the American Union, if indeed it were possible, would be a disastrous blow to the cause of Human Freedom equally here, in Europe, and throughout the world. Tell him that he will receive a Major-General’s commission in the army of the United States, with its appointments, with the hearty welcome of the American People. Tell him that we have abundant resources, and numbers unlimited at our command, and a nation resolved to remain united and free.” (6)
In his reply Garibaldi made the following point:
“I should be very happy to be able to serve a country for which I have so much affection and of which I am an adoptive citizen ... if I do not reply affirmatively and immediately to the honorable proposition which your government through your agency has made to me, it is because I do not feel myself entirely free, because of my duties toward Italy.” (6 )
A main goal of Garibaldi’s, shrewd strategist that he was, remained the unification of Italy. He had been trying to encourage the King to draft him in a new campaign. Now with an American offer in hand willing to recruit him into their service, he could move with strength to once again appeal to King Victor Emmanuel. He continued and conditioned his availability on being free from service to the king:
“Nevertheless, if His Majesty, Victor Emmanuel, believes he has no need of my services, then, provided that the conditions upon which the American government intends to accept me are those which your messenger has verbally indicated to me, you will have me immediately at your disposal.” (6)
This squeeze play with the king failed when the king informed Garibaldi he was not about to embark on a military expedition, commanded by Garibaldi or anyone else, against the Papal territories. Garibaldi would not be needed and thus was free to embrace the American offer. On 7 September 1861, Minister Sanford chartered a small steamer in Genoa to carry him to the island of La Maddalena where he would then proceed to the adjacent island of Caprera. The next day, he sat down with Garibaldi to discuss details of the United States offer. Following this meeting, in a letter marked “confidential,” he communicated the following to Secretary Seward on 18 September 1861:
“[Garibaldi] said that the only way in which he could render service, as he ardently desired to do, to the cause of the United States, was as Commander-in-Chief of its forces, that he would only go as such, and with the additional contingent power—to be governed by events—of declaring the abolition of slavery; that he would be of little use without the first, and without the second it would appear like any civil war in which the world at large could have little interest or sympathy.” (6)
Garibaldi had upped the ante. It was explained that the President had no authority to confer such powers.
“I had been authorized to communicate with him on the subject of his letter to our consul at Antwerp confidentially, and if found acceptable to offer him a commission of Major General, which I doubted would not carry with it the command of a large corps d’armée to conduct in his own way within certain limits in the prosecution of the war.” (6)
While level of command negotiations were going on, the issue of slavery remained a major point of contention with Garibaldi. As time passed and two additional unauthorized efforts were started and squelched to recruit Garibaldi, the war had moved past the point where his presence as an inspirational leader might serve as the way to victory. The offer would gradually fade away due to the impossibility of satisfying Garibaldi’s requirements as Commander in Chief and an announcement of the abolition of slavery. Besides, by then Lincoln had his Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln had also issued his Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863. Following this Proclamation, in his 6 August 1863 letter to Lincoln, Garibaldi praised Lincoln’s actions:
“Posterity will call you the great emancipator, a more enviable title than any crown could be, and greater than any merely mundane treasure. You are a true heir of the teaching given us by Christ and by John Brown. If an entire race of human beings, subjugated into slavery by human egoism, has been restored to human dignity, to civilization and human love, this is by your doing and at the price of the most noble lives in America.” (8)
Unfortunately, there is no evidence a reply was ever issued by the President.
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Garibaldi's
Tomb at His Home on Caprera |
One hundred ninety-five nations, each with a flag. Denmark’s flag, in existence since 15 June 1219, holds the distinction as the oldest flag in the world still flying today. (9) While American flags on the moon may have crumbled with time, few have gone as far. One distinction of the Italian flag is clearly its long and painful evolution. It was forged from blood, pain, hope, faith, and long-suffering, much of it by that “other emancipator”, Garibaldi. He had fought for human rights and unification under many variations of what would become the Italian national flag. Flags are more than mere pieces of cloth fluttering on a flagpole. They are symbols of unity. There is a reason why they are ceremoniously raised and lowered each day with the utmost respect. In their design and colors, they are often emblematic of a nation’s struggle, hard-fought-for by men like emancipators Lincoln and Garibaldi — Lincoln, who as President lived to see two new stars added to its banner, and Garibaldi, the once dreamed of Union Italian-American general, who in Lincoln’s honor would see his grandson named Lincoln. (10)
From That Rogue Tourist
Paolo
1. https://www.ushistory.org/betsy//flagtale.html
2. https://www.ushistory.org/betsy/
3. https://www.lifeinitaly.com/culture/history-of-the-italian-flag/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_Italian_states
6. https://www.americanheritage.com/garibaldi-and-lincoln
7. https://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/the-constitution-and-slavery
8. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/giuseppe-garibaldi-president-lincoln
9. https://dancham.or.th/denmark-celebrates-dannebrog-as-the-oldest-continuously-used-
national-flag-in-the-world/
10. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/332401/garibaldi-grandson-lincoln-canzi-b/
