U.S. 36-Star Flag Grant-Colfax Campaign Flag.
This small, 36-star, cotton parade flag was overprinted for the 1868 presidential election with the names of the two Republican Party candidates: "US Grant for President, S. Colfax for Vice President".
The use of flags with outdated star counts for political campaigns has a long history in the United States (see ZFC0624). This became especially true after the American Civil War when literally thousands of flags were rendered obsolete in 1867 after the admission of Nebraska. This small 36-star flag was overprinted for the first national election after the war.
The Republican platform supported African-American suffrage, was opposed to using paper money to redeem U.S. bonds, encouraged emigration and favored radical reconstruction as distinct departures from the more lenient policies of President Andrew Johnson.
The flag's canton is interesting as it bears the common 6 x 6 rectilinear star pattern but unusually, the stars point in all directions.
Exhibition History:
Private Showing for The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in California.
"Night of Flags" in celebration of George Washington's birthday.
This was a Power Point slide presentation on the period 13-star flag and presidential flags in the Flag Center/Zaricor Flag Collection and comments by Ben Zaricor wherein the image of this flag was displayed on the 26th of February 2009 at the Octagon House, San Francisco, California.
Provenance: Acquired at auction via Heritage Auction Inc., at the 24 June 2007, Civil War Grand Format Auction, in Gettysburg, PA.
ZFC Important Flag
Sources:
36 Star Flags, Flags of the World, 18 May 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1865.html
United States presidential election, 1868, Wikipedia, 18 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1868
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
