Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show 2017

One 17 star, 17 stripe flag is known, with specific history of British capture during the War of 1812, and an illustration of a 17 star flag on a period snuff box shows a complement of 17 stripes. All of the surviving 15 star flags that have been identified as dating sometime prior to the Third Flag Act, have 15 stripes. So prior to 1818, the apparent logic was to add a stripe for every star. Flags made with lower star counts in later periods, by contrast, quite consistently have 13 stripes. This is true of the 12, 15, 16, 20, and 24 star examples that I have mentioned, which are believed to have been flown by the Navy during the mid-19th century. I have thus far explained a few of the reasons why some low star counts were made out-of-period, but there were others. Of particular interest to both this discussion, and the collecting interests of flag enthusiasts in general, are a group of both Northern and Southern flags made during the War of the Rebellion (1861-65). Because some of these flags display pre-1850 star counts, they bridge the gap into the next period of flag history. The Civil War: A Spectrum of Star Counts, Constellations, and Messages When war broke out on April 12th, 1861, there were 33 official stars on theAmerican national flag. On that day, when the Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the flag flying on the garrison had 33 stars, arranged in a spectacular diamond configuration. Now in the hands of the National Park Service, this is one of fewer than 10 pieced- and-sewn examples that I am aware of that displays some variant of this coveted arrangement (fig. 9). The Fort Sumpter flag was lowered by Major Robert Anderson on April 14, 1861, when he surrendered his position. Under the terms agreed to by Southern aggressors, Anderson was allowed to leave and traveled immediately to New York where, just six days later, on April 20th, he displayed the flag inManhattan at a patriotic rally. More than 100,000 people flooded Union Square to view it, where it was flown from the equestrian statue of George Washington, in what was, by some accounts, the largest public gathering that had yet to occur in America up and until that time. The flag then proceeded on a journey. Escorted from town to town throughout the North, it was repeatedly sold at auction to raise funds for the war effort. High bidders were expected to immediately donate the flag back to the nation, and it would promptly be taken to the next rally to compound the fundraising effort. By this method, the flag became an iconic symbol of the Union. It was most certainly viewed by more people than any other example of the Stars & Stripes had been before, and it seems likely that this exposure was the (Figure 9) One of the few known flags with a diamond configuration, 34 stars, Civil War period, 1861-63, having an applied banner with a patriotic slogan that reads “WE LOVE EVERY STRIPE AND STAR.” ​Photo courtesy Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, Inc. central catalyst to the widespread public display of American flags that followed at private households and businesses. At this point flag production escalated tremendously to meet the new demand of not only military, but civilian buyers. Although 33 was the official star count in April of 1861, Kansas had already joined the Union as a Free State on the preceding January 29th. This is why flag-makers generally bypassed the 33 star flag, in favor of producing examples with an additional star, even though it would not be officially added until July 4th of that year. It made little sense to produce flags that would soon have to be updated with a 34th star, that everyone knew was coming. For this reason early war production favored flags in the 34 star count almost universally. In 1863, 11 days before the Battle of Gettysburg, West Virginia was annexed from Virginia to join the Union as a new state. Though its residents generally sided with the Confederacy, it was a Free State and a 35th star was officially added to the flag on July 4th. On Halloween, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln pushed Nevada through to statehood, just 8 days before the November election. The territory’s wealth in silver was attractive to a W 120 W