Forty-Four Star American Flag.

$3,500.00

Item Number: 109201

Rare forty-four star American flag. The American flag bearing 44 stars was in use between July 10, 1890 when the state of Wyoming was admitted into the Union and January 4, 1896 when Utah was admitted as the 45th state. In near fine condition with ownership initials to the hoist, identified to “Camp 6 Sons of Veterans, Illinois Division USA. The flag measures 48 inches by 84 inches.

One of the nation’s most widely recognized symbols, the flag of the United States of America has been officially modified a total of 26 times since its first appearance in 1777. The flag’s initial design, bearing thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, has been credited to several historic figures including naval flag designer Francis Hopkinson, Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross, and flagmaker Rebecca Young. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” “The preference of Civil War flagmakers was clearly for horizontal and vertical alignment of stars: that is, complete parallelism of rows... The collective visual effect of Civil War flags is, therefore, one of hypnotic rhythm - the embattled stars, drawn up in military order in defense of the threatened Union, stride on relentlessly. Star patterns of this sort, denser now and necessarily smaller, may be described as ‘phalanx’ or ‘battalion’ arrangements. While Civil War flags escaped much of the mortal rigidity of mechanical mass production, their artistic merit was more particularly due to the delicate design relationship of the elements and to numerous subtle details - such as the directions of the arms of the stars, which we never entirely regimented, as they are on modern flags. And truly no modern replica can either do justice to the artistic character, or render the ‘patina’ of one of these antique flags” (Mastai & Mastai, 124).