Juliette Low was a very patriotic woman. It was a motivating factor for much of what she did her entire life, influencing her travel, her friendships, her reading, her artistic preferences, her charitable activities, and especially, of course, her dedication to Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

On the 6th of April 1917, the United States entered World War I. The Allied Powers, including Daisy’s adopted country of England, had been fighting since 1914 and she was overjoyed at the prospect of American assistance to the friends and sons of friends who were exhausted by the lengthy and terrible conflict.

Girl Scouts, like Girl Guides, had been very active in war work, and Daisy was justly proud of them all. But once the U.S Congress actually declared war, Daisy’s relief spilled out in a creative way. She thought Girl Scouts should wear their patriotism for all the world to see. In typical fashion, she conjured up a highly dramatic way for this to be done:  a cape with a star-spangled lining.

She drew a picture of what she wanted to have made as part of the uniform.  This is what the cape would look like, closed:
You can see that she wanted it made in khaki fabric, to match the khaki-colored uniforms of that era.
And this is what she wanted the cape to look like with the two halves “thrown back.” She has drawn the uniform underneath.

But the real glory of the cape was the lining Daisy envisioned: the Stars and Stripes, so, she wrote, “in a parade they can have them inside out and the girls will be draped in [the] U.S. flag.”

Ultimately, this commendably patriotic idea had to be abandoned, because literally wearing the flag of the United States was deemed inappropriate. I mention this cape in Juliette Gordon Low:  The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts, but there’s no photo of her drawing, so when you read the book you’ll now be able to imagine precisely what she meant!

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Juliette Gordon Low to Montague Gammon, 14 April 1917, National Historic Preservation Center, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., New York.