Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show 2017

of the Declaration, or perhaps shortly beforehand, and was somehow raised for the first time with the advent of Independence. That auspicious occasion wouldn’t actually take place, however, until almost a year later, on June 14th, 1777. This is the day that we now celebrate, acknowledging the official birthday of the American flag. Even after the new flag was accepted, evidence suggests that the Grand Union design persisted. This may have been because information traveled slowly, or because there was little immediate need to alter the flags already being used, or for the more practical reason that materials and skilled labor were not readily available to sew new flags. Garrison flags, for example, were difficult to manufacture. Averaging between 35 and 45 feet on the fly, the undertaking to produce such a mammoth textile was both costly and laborious. The task would have required a team of accomplished seamstresses, plus access to sufficient stock of British or German-made wool bunting, and perhaps 1,000 feet of thread. Consider for a moment how the availability of shoes, clothing, and ammunition were a huge problem for Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. When faced with the choice of using scarce funds to properly cloth his men and give them bullets, versus the replacement of a garrison flag that was already distinguishable as American, the decision was probably an easy one. The information thus far disclosed covers but a small number of check marks on a long list of poorly understood facts concerning the origin of the American flag. Sadly, very little about the flag’s development over time is touched upon today in history classes at the elementary, high school, or college levels. When it was discussed with greater frequency in years past, some of the most basic information put forth by textbooks and instructors was false. One of the most glaring holes could be found in the simplest of questions: Who was (Figure 3) Confederate Bible Flag in the 1st National format (a.k.a., Stars & Bars), captured by Major Frederick Green Stiles of the 42nd Massachusetts at the “Battle of the Hankerchiefs” in New Orleans. Photo courtesy Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, Inc. responsible for the design and what did it look like? Both of these topics have been drowned in myth so often and for so long as to achieve legend. For more than a century, children dressed up as Betsy Ross. Her perfect circle of 5-pointed stars has been displayed on nearly countless flags and banners, in hundreds or perhaps thousands of movies, in books, television programs and newspapers, on clothing, trinkets and media of all kinds. What the history books should have said, given current knowledge, is that Betsy Ross may have made the first flag, but that she did not design it and the stars were probably not in a circle. Accepted on June 14th, 1777, the resolution of the Second Continental Congress that created the new flag read as follows: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Because no specification of the pattern was given, we have no certainty of how the stars were configured, or even if there was an expected way. So what did the first 13 star flag look like? Believe it or not, no one is sure. Eighteenth- century images survive on powder horns, paintings, drawings, and engravings, as well as a tiny handful of actual flags, but the very first one is not known. Flag historians generally agree that the individual who played the primary role in its design was one of our founding fathers, Francis Hopkinson, a native Philadelphian, delegate to the Continental Congress representing New Jersey, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson was a member of the Continental Navy Board in 1776. Because the number of available hands was so small, along with available funds, people sometimes wore several hats. As an amateur artist with an interest in heraldry, Hopkinson designed a variety of government-related artwork. His skill in this regard, plus his function with the Navy, brought to bear his role in the design of a new signal to identify Continental ships on the open seas. This was the thrust behind America’s impending need for a national flag and more specifically, one that would now be devoid of British ties. Sadly, Hopkinson’s original drawings for the flag have not survived, and while he illustrated 13 star flags at other times, as well as arrangements of 13 stars for display on other devices, his various depictions are inconsistent. Some of his earliest surviving renditions actually depict the stars in a random scattering, without order (fig. 4), and to further complicate the matter, sometimes the stars had 6-pointed profiles and sometimes they were 5-pointed. Perhaps there was a purpose behind these traits and perhaps not, but whatever the reason, the concept of no particular order does seem to coincide with the unspecified verbiage found in the original legislation. Further, since the type of star wasn’t specified, the use of W 113 W