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The Spring Swing is designed for both indoor and outdoor fun whether wrapped around a tree branch, swinging in a playroom or used for a pop of color and m...

13 STAR ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG, A U.S. NAVY SMALL BOAT ENSIGN WITH ENORMOUS HAND-SEWN STARS, IN A REMARKABLE STATE OF PRESERVATION, CIRCA 1890-1899: Despite the fact that America hasn't been comprised of 13 states since 1791, 13 star flags have been made and displayed throughout our nation's history, seemingly without pause, from 1777 to the present. The reasons for their manufacture are many, with functions both patriotic and utilitarian. They were hoisted at patriotic events, including Lafayette’s visit in 1824-25, the celebration of the centennial of American independence in 1876, and the sesquicentennial in 1926. They were displayed during the Civil War (1861-65) to reference past struggles for American liberty, and were used by 19th century politicians while campaigning for the same reason. As the number of stars grew with the addition of new states, it became more and more difficult to fit their full complement on a small flag. The stars would, by necessity, have to become smaller, which made it more and more difficult to view them from a distance. The fear was that too many of them close together would become as one white mass and potentially distort the ability to identify American ships. Keeping the count low allowed for better visibility and for this reason the U.S. Navy flew 13 star flags on small craft. Flag experts disagree about the precisely when the Navy began to revert to the 13 star count (and occasionally other low counts) for these "small boat ensigns," as they were termed. Some feel that their use never ceased, which seems to be supported by depictions of ships in period artwork, but it wasn't formally specified until 1854, when first appeared in naval regulations. 13 was, of course, the original number of stars on the first American national flag, by way of the First Flag Act (1777), and equal to the number of original colonies that became states. Because any American flag that has previously been official remains so today, according to the flag acts, it remains perfectly acceptable to fly 13 star flags by way of congressional law. U.S. Navy small boat ensigns were flown at the stern, from a gaff, or from the yard-arm on a larger vessel, or as the primary flag on a skiff or other small craft that carried sailors back and forth to shore. The particular example that is the subject of this narrative was made during the 1890's. The stars are rather enormous in scale when compared to most of its counterparts of other time periods. Made of cotton, these are hand-sewn and double-appliquéd (applied to both sides of the blue canton), and are configured into rows of 3-2-3-2-3. The canton and stripes are made of wool bunting and have been joined with treadle stitching. The rectangular wool patches at the top and bottom of the hoist are called gussets. These are original to the flag's construction and were added for reinforcement at the points where it was subject to the most wear. The coarse linen binding along the hoist, golden tan in color, is indicative of the Navy's flags in this period and shortly thereafter. The filament of blue thread that runs vertically through the fabric aided in measurement of the cloth. While this can often be encountered in sailcloth, it is fairly unusual in linen of this sort and adds a nice, if subtle, element to the flag's visual presentation. Although they acquired flags from commercial makers when the need presented itself, the Navy generally made its own flags. Around 1884 they began stenciling them with black pigment along the hoist, specifying the date and location of manufacture. This did not occur with regularity until the 1890's, but is sometimes present in 1880's examples. Most Navy flags of this era have brass grommets. This flag is peculiar because it has neither a stencil or grommets. The binding is constructed as an open sleeve, through which a rope could be passed and stitched into place for hoisting. There are no markings at all along it, save for at the extreme bottom on the obverse, where, in small text, there appears to be a letter "C," followed by "XX," inscribed with a dip pen. A numeral, followed by one or two X's, often denotes the length of the flag in feet when measured on the fly, but here the notation remains unknown. During the period in which this flag was made, Naval regulations specified that the largest variety of 13 star small boat ensign measured 3.52 feet on the hoist x 6.67 feet on the fly. While the length of this example is almost spot-on, at 6.65 feet (less than an inch in variance), the height of 3.83 feet is almost 4 inches taller than expected. In my experience, this is not unusual. Regulations seem to have been loosely followed at best, and it's remarkable, given the combination of human error and the propensity of wool to shrink, that the length is so close. Despite the lack of grommets or markings, the construction is otherwise precisely what I would expect of a U.S. Navy flag and it's readily identifiable as a product of U.S. Navy production. Since there was no official star configuration until the 20th century, (1912 specifically,) the stars on 13 star flags may appear in any one of a host of configurations. The 3-2-3-2-3 pattern begins to appear on U.S. Navy flags at the tail end of the Civil War. In addition, it is the most often encountered pattern across 13 star flags, with pieced-and-sewn construction, that were made during the latter half of the 19th century. In 1882, the scale of the stars changed. These became significantly larger and their orientation was, for the first time, fixed. The stars in the first row were oriented with one point up, followed by the second row, with one point oriented down, alternating throughout the pattern, as can be seen in this example. I have always like this feature, which in this case adds a strong visual element to flag that already has ample graphic impact. In most cases the 3-2-3-2-3 design can also be viewed as a diamond of stars, with a star in each corner and a star in the very center. It is of interest to note that the pattern can also be interpreted as a combination of the cross of St. Andrew and the cross of St. George, which some feel could have been the configuration on the very first American flag, possibly representing a link between this star pattern and the British Union Jack. The arrangement is often attributed--albeit erroneously, in my opinion--to New Jersey Senator Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson is credited with having played the most significant role of any person in the design of the American flag, but his original drawings have not survived. Further, while he is known to have depicted arrangements of 13 stars on other objects, such as various seals and colonial currencies...