Texas Centennial Exposition Pennant, ca 1936

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS PENNANT FROM PARRIS ISLAND, circa WWI (U.S. INVOLVEMENT 1917-18) -1930’s Faded, red, felt, United States Marine Corps pennant with a variant of the central device of its official seal printed in blue, yellow, gold, tan, and white pigments, and “Parris Island S.C.” in white beyond, slightly arched, extending toward the tapered point. Note the whimsical profile of the letter “c,” with an exaggerated, scrolling tail. The device generally consists of a federal eagle perched upon a globe, superimposed on a canted anchor with a whirling chain, the combination of which is to symbolize the Corps’ watchful, worldwide, maritime presence. In this instance the image was modified to fit the elongated profile of a pennant’s basic design, with the anchor rotated slightly clockwise to the horizontal, an adaptation sometimes encountered in both Marine Corps and U.S. Navy examples. The colors used to represent the Marine Corps changed over time. The present combination of scarlet red and gold, predominant here, were formally adopted in 1925, but American military traditions tend to be as hard to extinguish as the men and women of their ranks, and the Corps was certainly no exception. 14 years would pass before the official change caught up with the Marine Corps’ flag...

AMERICAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT PENNANT WITH "VOTES FOR WOMEN" TEXT, IN A LARGE SIZE AND WITH ATTRACTIVE PATINA FROM AGE AND OBVIOUS USE, circa 1912-1920 American Suffrage movement penna...

Presented is a rare Centennial patriotic flag banner, dating to 1876. The flag’s brilliant blue canton is spectacular, with 81 five-pointed, rayed stars, arranged to read “1776” and “1876.” The flag’s design is completed with thirteen alternating red and white stripes. The flag is a three-piece, treadle-sewn sewn construction, printed on a thin wool and cotton blend. Along the edge, there is a narrow, treadle-sewn sleeve made of cotton tape. In the lead up to the nation’s Centennial in 1876, flag makers and individuals looked to the past for designs to produce as part of the country’s many celebrations. Popular interpretation of the stars and stripes undoubtedly reached its climax of variety and originality at the time of our Nation’s first Centennial. Since no design restrictions were placed on flagmaker’s imaginations and no strict distinctions were drawn between official and unofficial star counts, it is no surprise that, on the occasion of the Centennial, creativity in flag design was not the exception, but the rule. The cantons from this period presented an array of geometric abstractions. Great star patterns, referred to as the “starry flower of Liberty” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, that were popular from 1818 and on, resurfaced in Centennial flags...

ABOUT An original Italian flag with brass grommets to hang it. CREATOR American Flag and Banner Company, San Francisco. DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.19...