Thirty-Four Star American Flag.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,.

$12,000.00

Item Number: 147929

Rare thirty-four star Civil War era American flag in use between January 29, 1861 when the state of Kansas was admitted into the Union as the 34th state and July 3, 1863 when West Virginia was admitted as the 35th state. Wool bunting, with 34 hand-sewn, single appliqued cotton stars unusually configured in 21010102 horizontal rows on wool bunting canton. The fly is constructed of 13 hand-sewn wool bunting stripes. The hoist is linen with six eyelet holes, with “S.D. Bailey 2 (9 or 4)th Ensign” written along the top edge, and a paper note attached to bottom corner that signed, “Mrs. O.E. Carpenter.” According to the North Carolina Museum of History, this flag was originally purchased at a bankruptcy sale in Boston, MA by Harvey Chishom of Augusta, ME just after the Civil War. The dimensions of the flag indicate that it was most likely a storm flag that would have been flown in inclement weather. In very good condition. The flag measures approximately 120 inches by 245 inches. Rare and desirable.

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.” Kansas became the 34th state admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861. The 1860s saw several important developments in the history of Kansas, including participation in the Civil War, the beginning of the cattle drives, the roots of Prohibition in Kansas (which would fully take hold in the 1880s), and the start of the Indian Wars on the western plains. James Lane was elected to the Senate from the state of Kansas in 1861, and reelected in 1865. After years of small-scale civil war, Kansas was admitted into the Union as a free state under the "Wyandotte Constitution" on January 29, 1861. "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).