26 Star U.S. Flag Michigan joins to the Union.

A 26-Star U.S. flag commemorating the addition of Michigan to the Union. (July 4, 1837 - July 3, 1845).
A 26-Star American national flag commemorating the addition of Michigan to the Union, January 26, 1837, with stars of various sizes arranged in a tilted "Great Star". This flag is thought to be one of the earliest examples of printed parade flags. Only a few others from this period are known to exist.

When Michigan entered into the Union as its thirteenth free state and its twenty-sixth overall state on January 26th, 1837, it complimented Arkansas admission as the thirteenth slave state and twenty-fifth state of the Union in June of the year before. These two admissions retained the balance that had been established in Henry Clays Missouri Compromise of 1820. By that Compromise Missouri had entered the Union in August of 1821, as a slave state to balance the admission of Maine as a free state in March of 1820. The balancing act would continue until 1850. The twenty-six-star flag became the eighth official flag of the United States and remained in official service for thirteen years. During its reign the flag would be transformed into a political campaign device during the election of 1840, and four years later during the Kensington Riots in Philadelphia the Know Nothing Movement as a symbol of their anti-foreign, anti-Catholic campaign would embrace it.

Printing color on silk or cotton fabrics initially employed wooden blocks that were hand-cut in order to leave a raised surface bearing the desired pattern. That design would be covered with ink or dye and pressed down on a piece of fabric, leaving an impression made by the raised section of the block. Finding a wood with a sufficiently porous surface to hold the right amount of dye proved difficult and too little or too much dye could result in a ruined impression. An alternative technique used the raised area to press down on the fabric to prevent the dye from penetrating into the pressed-upon surface; this process was known as press-dyeing.

Another technique covered the raised surface with wax or some similar substance that was applied to the fabric, causing it to resist the dyes added afterward; this was known as resist-dyeing. Neither system worked very well with fabrics until John Holt patented improvements in the period 1865-1870. Nevertheless presentable, inexpensive flags were mass-produced by these processes in the two decades before Holt's improvements became available. Mastai #81.

Exhibition History:

First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0634)
"Grand Luminary" Twenty-Six-Star United States Flag

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery II
(ZFC0634)
26-Star United States Flag

Chicago Meeting - December, 2003
(ZFC0634)
26-Star United States Flag

Presidential Debate -
Washington University at St. Louis
October, 2004
(ZFC0634)

Museum of Art & History
Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz Collects
11 August - 25 November 2012


Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 42.

Druckman, Nancy, Jeffery Kohn, The American Flag: Designs for a Young Nation, New York, Abrams, 2003.P.22.

Depicted in Mastai (1973), p. 102.Depicted in 1973 cat. p. 41, #43.
Depicted in American Flags, p. 22.
Depicted in The American Flag, p.42.

Provenance:
• Acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Boleslaw & Marie-Louise D'Otrange Mastai, New York City, and Amagansett, NY, The Mastai Collection, until 2002.
• Sold via Sotheby's Auction in New York City to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2002.


ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:

---

Druckman, Nancy, Jeffery Kohn, The American Flag: Designs for a Young Nation, New York, Abrams, 2003.Pp.79.

Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the republic to the Present, Knopf, New York, 1973.

Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange, Our Unknown Flag: Almost 250 Flags and Artifacts from the famous Mastai Collection, New York, Boleslaw Mastai, Amagansett, Exhibited 14 June -28 July 1978US Customhouse, Plaza Lever, 6 World trade Center

Samuel Chester Reid, Wikipedia, 24 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Chester_Reid

Great Star Flags (U.S.), Flags of the World, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-gstar.html

Martucci, David, Great Star Flags, US Flags: Part 5, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.midcoast.com/~martucci/flags/us-hist6.html

United States Presidential Election of 1840, Wikipedia, 28 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_of_1840

United States Presidential Election of 1844, Wikipedia, 28 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_of_1844

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection

Hoist & Fly
Width of Hoist	19.25
Length of Fly	28.75

Frame
Is it framed?	yes
Frame Height	23.5
Frame Length	32.75

Stars
Number of Stars	26
Are there stars on obverse?	yes
Are there stars on reverse?	yes

Stripes
Number of Stripes	13
Color of Top Stripe	Red
Color of Bottom Stripe	Red
Has a Blood Stripe?	no

Nationality
Nation Represented	United States

Fabric
Fabric	Silk

Documentation
Documents	Book Cover
Public Copy & Signs

Condition
Condition	Good
Damage	Used
Displayable	yes

Exhibits
Exhibition Copy	First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0634) "GRAND LUMINARY" TWENTY-SIX-STAR UNITED STATES FLAG Date: About 1837-1845 Medium: Printed on silk Comment: When Michigan entered into the Union as its thirteenth "free" state and its twenty-sixth overall state on January 26th, 1837, it complimented Arkansas' admission as the thirteenth "slave" state and twenty-fifth state into the Union in June of the year before. These two admissions retained the balance that had been established in Henry Clay's "Missouri Compromise" of 1820. By that Compromise Missouri had entered the Union in August of 1821 as a slave state to balance the admission of Maine as a "free" state in March of 1820. The balancing act would continue until 1850. The twenty-six-star flag became the eighth official flag of the United States and remained in official service for thirteen years. During its "reign" the flag would be transformed into a political campaign device during the election of 1840, and four years later during the "Kensington Riots" in Philadelphia it would be embraced by the "Know Nothing Movement" as a symbol of their anti-foreign, anti-Catholic campaign. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0634) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sotheby's. Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery II (ZFC0634) 26-Star United States Flag Date: 1837-1845 26 Stars: July 4, 1837-July 3, 1845 (Michigan statehood January 26, 1837) Medium: Printed silk Comment: Printing color on silk or cotton fabrics initially employed wooden blocks that were hand-cut in order to leave a raised surface bearing the desired pattern. That design would be covered with ink or dye and pressed down on a piece of fabric, leaving an impression made by the raised section of the block. Finding wood the surface of which was sufficiently porous to hold the right amount of dye proved difficult and too little or too much dye could result in a ruined impression. An alternate technique used the raised area to press down on the fabric to prevent the dye from penetrating into the pressed-upon surface; this process was known as press-dyeing. Another technique covered the raised surface with wax or some similar substance that was applied to the fabric, causing it to resist the dyes added afterward; this was known as "resist-dyeing." Neither system worked very well with fabrics until improvements were effected and patented by John Holt in the period 1865-1870. Nevertheless presentable, inexpensive flags were made by these processes in the two decades before Holt's improvements became available. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0634) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection through auction at Sotheby's of New York City. Chicago Meeting - December, 2003 (ZFC0634) 26-Star United States Flag Date: 1837-1845 26 Stars: July 4, 1837-July 3, 1845 (Michigan statehood January 26, 1837) Medium: Printed silk Comment: Printing color on silk or cotton fabrics initially employed wooden blocks that were hand-cut in order to leave a raised surface bearing the desired pattern. That design would be covered with ink or dye and pressed down on a piece of fabric, leaving an impression made by the raised section of the block. Finding wood the surface of which was sufficiently porous to hold the right amount of dye proved difficult and too little or too much dye could result in a ruined impression. An alternate technique used the raised area to press down on the fabric to prevent the dye from penetrating into the pressed-upon surface; this process was known as press-dyeing. Another technique covered the raised surface with wax or some similar substance that was applied to the fabric, causing it to resist the dyes added afterward; this was known as "resist-dyeing." Neither system worked very well with fabrics until improvements were effected and patented by John Holt in the period 1865-1870. Nevertheless presentable, inexpensive flags were made by these processes in the two decades before Holt's improvements became available. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0634) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection through auction at Sotheby's of New York City. Presidential Debate - Washington University at St. Louis October, 2004 (ZFC0634) 26-Star United States Flag Political Campaign Parade Flag (1837-1845) This "Grand Luminary" flag is a fine example of an early mass produced flag that the industrial revolution made possible for the average citizen. Printed on cotton these flags were widely used in the presidential campaign of 1840. In that election Martin Van Buren faced the Whig party candidate, William Henry Harrison. Harrison, a patrician and soldier, was presented to the people as "Old Tippecanoe", who had been born in a log cabin and drank hard cider like common folk. In an appeal to emotional and patriotic issues, national politics were ignored. Harrison's campaign was the first to make wide use of the US flag in his party's successful run for the presidency. The flag features a "Grand Luminary" starfield, wherein all the small stars form a large single star-emblematic in the union of states. A design that was popular for most of the 19th century.
Exhibition Images	Washington University 2004 Presidential Debate Poster

Publications
Publication Images	Book Cover Publisher Info Obverse Cover Frontispeice Frontispeice detail Frontispeice detail 2 Page 172/173
Flag Books	The Stars and The Stripes - Mastai