Footnote
f In the booklet Our Flag, published by the Office of Armed Forces information & Education, Department of Defense, on page one it says this: “The story of the origin of our National flag parallels the story of the origin of our country. As our country received its birthright from the peoples of many lands who were gathered on these shores to found a new nation, so did the pattern of the Stars and Stripes rise from several origins back in the mists of antiquity to become emblazoned on the standards of our infant Republic.
“The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun. Both themes have long been represented on the standards of nations from the banners of the astral worshippers of ancient Egypt and Babylon to the 12-starred flag of the Spanish Conquistadors under Cortez. Continuing in favor, they spread to the striped standards of Holland and the West India Company in the 17th century and to the present patterns of stars and stripes on the flags of several nations of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.”
On page 23 it states: “The Secretary of Defense, Washington, 28 December 1959, OUR FLAG (DOD Pam 5-6a)—This official Department of Defense Publication is for the use of personnel in the military Services. [Signed] Thomas S. Gates. Published by the Office of Armed Forces Information and Education, Department of Defense, Washington 25, D.C.”