Cincinnati

Cincinnati (the Cincinnatuses), a society or order in the United States of North America, established by the officers of the revolutionary army in 1783, 'to perpetuate their friendship, and to raise a fund for relieving the widows and orphans of those who had fallen during the war.' It was so named because it included patriots, headed by Washington, who in many instances had left rural affairs to serve their country (see CINCINNATUS). The badge of the society is a bald eagle suspended by a dark-blue ribbon with white borders, symbolising the union of France and America. Round the whole are the words, Omnia reliquit servare rempublicam. After 1804 the branches in several of the states were abolished. There are still, however, several state societies, which hold a general meeting by delegates triennially. See the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol. vi.