Hawaiian Parade Flag, Silk, ca 1893-1920's, Pre-Statehood

38 WHIMSICAL STARS, WITH 6-POINTED PROFILES, SIMILAR TO THE STAR OF DAVID, ON AN ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG OF THE CENTENNIAL ERA; A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN, ONE-OF-A-KIND AMONG KNOWN EXAMPLE...

COLORADO STATE FLAG OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY, MADE OF SILK, CIRCA 1911-1920’s, EXTRAORDINARILY RARE IN THIS PERIOD AND THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE THAT I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED Early state flags are few and far between. While I am asked for them constantly, most states did not actually have official flags until the 20th century. On May 6th, 1911, Colorado became among the last to adopt a design. The project of doing so was spearheaded by the Denver Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The bill was introduced by Senator W.H. Sharply and adopted by the Eighteenth General Assembly. The artwork was the product of A.C. [Andrew Carlisle] Carson, President of the Ohio Society of Colorado. The meanings behind the elements in the design are as follows: The large letter "C" stands for Colorado and simultaneously for the Centennial State (Colorado entered the Union in 1876, the year in which our nation celebrated its 100th anniversary of independence), as well as the Columbine State (reflecting the state flower). The red color is included due to the fact that the word Colorado translates to scarlet or red in Spanish. The circle represents the sun, while the gold color symbolizes all-the-year sunshine, Colorado’s status as the greatest gold state, and one Columbine color. It was also included so that the Colorado state flag would have one more color than the U.S. flag. The color white reflects Colorado’s status as the greatest silver state, its eternal mountain snow, and one Columbine color. Lastly, the shade of Yale blue symbolizes all-the-year blue sky and one Columbine Color. Members of the D.A.R. were proud to note that this was also their color. Made sometime between the initial year of the adoption of this design and the 1920’s, this particular flag is the earliest Colorado example that I have ever encountered. The blue and white bars, red “C,” and golden circle are a’’ made of silk taffeta. This was a costly fabric, reserved for the best material a flag-maker produced. The flag is constructed in the manner of a battle flag, to be carried on foot. Squarish in its overall profile, silk was the fabric of choice for flags employed in this function, due to the fact that it was light weight, and thus practical for hand-carrying, while simultaneously formal in appearance, appropriate for the sort of ceremonial use that military presentation often demands. The style of the hoist is also typical for field or parade use. Here the fabric was rolled over to form an open sleeve, through which a wooden staff could be inserted. The sleeve is lined on the interior with black cotton. Leather tabs, at the top and bottom, fit over metal posts on the staff, designed to accept them, to fix the flag in its proper position. The bars were pieced and joined with lineal machine stitching. The hoist and fly ends were finished and hemmed by the same method. The devices are double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) with a machine buttonhole / blanket stitch. Though machines that produced buttonholes were, remarkably, available alongside the earliest standard machines, in the 1850’s and 60’s, the use of this sort of stitch in a running format, for appliqué work, remained highly unusual, even as late as the first half of the twentieth century, probably because it used a ton of thread when compared to the zigzag or satin stitch. It could be expected to appear more often in the hands of a maker of very fine flags, that employed embroidery machines and commissioned custom, fancy work of all sorts. Though unsigned—in no way uncommon in early examples, which were seldom signed—that is precisely the sort of firm that produced the Colorado flag...

38 star antique American parade flag with scattered star orientation, made of silk, with generous scale and vivid colors, Colorado Statehood, 1876-1889 38 star American national p...

32 STARS IN A VERY UNUSUAL NOTCHED VERSION OF THE “GREAT STAR” PATTERN, WITH TWO STARS ABSENT AT THE EXTREME POINTS OF EACH ARM, MADE IN THE PERIOD WHEN MINNESOTA JOINED THE UNION AS...

Rare violet & yellow Suffragette parade banner, the plate example illustrated in the text reference on the subject, made ca 1910-1920. Hand-painted banners...

46 star antique American flag in an exceptionally small scale among its pieced-and-sewn counterparts, reflects oklahoma statehood, circa 1907-1912: 46 star American national flag in a tiny and very rare scale among its counterparts of the period with pieced-and-sewn construction. The 46th state, Oklahoma, joined the Union on November 16th, 1907, during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency. Roosevelt had many friends in the Oklahoma Territory...

Presented is a very rare, 41-star flag waver celebrating Montana statehood. The flag is printed on linen and dates to 1889. The dark blue canton is printed with forty one stars in nine rows of alternating counts of five and four stars. Thirteen red and white stripes complete the flag’s design. The history of Montana statehood is a long one. Numerous Native American tribes originally inhabited the Montana Territory. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the members of their expedition were the first explorers to document a journey through Montana and the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Soon, forts were established to facilitate regular fur trading with Native American tribes. Missionaries and trailblazers followed. The discovery of gold in the early 1860s sped the creation of the Montana Territory. As settlers and gold prospectors entered Montana in the 1860s and 1870s, conflicts with the Native Americans arose. Perhaps the most famous clash between Native Americans and the United States military occurred in Montana on June 25, 1876. On that day, Sioux and Cheyenne defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer‘s 7th United States Cavalry regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A year later, Nez Percé Chief Joseph surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana. Lured by copper in the 1880s, mining brought even more settlers to Montana. Rich grazing lands for cattle and sheep attracted other pioneers. Each of the states in America, with the exception of the original thirteen, Texas, and California, was first organized as a territory before achieving admittance to the Union as a state. Originating with the Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, the territorial system provided the expanding U.S. with a method to govern frontier areas until they gained sufficient population and economic maturity to qualify for statehood. Not surprisingly, residents of frontier territories usually demanded quick admission to statehood so they could gain full control of their local governments. Montana was a territory for 25 years – from the creation of Montana Territory in 1864 until the territory was admitted to statehood in 1889. On November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota were added to the Union as the 39th and 40th states, the first time in history that two states were admitted on the same day. Montana became the 41st state on November 8, predating Washington, the 42nd state, by only three days. Flag makers were not in the business of making out-of-date flags. As a result of these rapid changes in the number of states, only a small number of 41-star flags or commemorative items were ever produced, thereby making any 41-star flag exceedingly rare. CONDITION: Good condition. This flag is printed, with a hemmed headband and fly end in a running stitch...

This is a rare 31-star medallion printed American flag, celebrating the addition of California to the Union. The flag is printed on silk and has a spectacular “Great Star” canton pat...

39 star silk statehood flag. 23 1/2" x 15". Was the unofficial North Dakota Flag. As South Dakota was also admitted as the 40th state on the same day this...

This is an original 46-star American parade flag, printed on silk. Each star represents a state in the Union at the time. The official flag design would update every July 4th, to inc...

This is an original 46-Star American parade flag, celebrating Oklahoma statehood. Each star on the flag's canton represents a state in the Union at the time. The official flag design would update every July 4th, to include any new states added to the Union in the past year. Oklahoma, the 46th state, entered the Union on November 16, 1907. As such, this 46–star flag was the official flag of the United States from July 4, 1908, until July 4, 1912. The silk flag has a dark blue canton with 46 white printed stars. The stars are printed in an 7-8-8-8-8-7 row configuration, or “Drum design.” The flag design is completed with 13 alternating red and white stripes, each stripe representing one of the original thirteen colonies. The land that comprises Oklahoma today was added to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Throughout the 19th century, the U.S. government relocated Indian tribes from the southeastern United States to the area, and by 1900, over 30 Indian tribes had been moved to what was originally called the Indian Territories. At the same time, ranchers in Texas began to move into the area in search of new pasture lands. Although stipulations in the Indian Relocation Act agreed that the land would forever be Indian Territory, the promise of fertile farmland trumped the government’s promise of sovereignty. On April 22, 1889, they opened the land to settlement by homesteaders, creating a land run in which settlers, called “Boomers,” were allowed to cross the Texas or Arkansas border at a particular hour to claim homesteads. Settlers who illegally crossed the border earlier to stake prime land were called “sooners,” which eventually became the state’s nickname. Wagons and the Santa Fe railroad carried cartloads of men and women to blank town sites and building plots, creating ten thousand-people communities in a matter of days. The following year, the region was further divided into Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory...

King Edward VII coronation, June 1902 framed scarf / flag. This scarf is an original antique piece of British history and patriotic memorabilia. ...