U.S. 26 Star Grand Luminary Flag, 1837 - 1845.

26 Star U.S. Flag, 1837 - 1845, Grand Luminary Political Parade Flag.
The admission of Michigan into the Union as its thirteenth free state complemented recognition the previous June of Arkansas as the thirteenth slave state. The accession of these two states brought the total number of states in the Union to 26. The admission of these two new states maintained the balance that had been established by Henry Clay's Missouri Compromise of 1820. Under the terms of that Compromise, Missouri would enter the Union in August 1821 as a slave state to check and balance the admission of Maine as a free state in March the previous year. This was meant to ensure equal representation in the U.S. Senate for North and South, a practice which would continue until 1850.

The 26-star flag became the eighth official flag of the United States, remaining in service for eight years. During that time, the U.S. flag would be increasingly used by politicians running for president. In the election of 1840, partisans of the Whig presidential candidate, William Henry Harrison, emblazoned his image and party slogans on the flag. More ominously, four years later during the Kensington Riots in Philadelphia, the flag would be brandished by the Know-Nothing movement as a icon of their anti-foreign, anti-Catholic campaign.

The twenty-six star flag was valid from 1837 until 1845. Since the presidential election campaigns of 1840 and 1844, the United States flag has been a more noticeable feature in the campaigns of candidates for that office. Small cotton flags such as this were freely distributed to political partisans to use at rallies and parades. An era of cheaply-produced and available U.S. flags had begun.

An important flag acquired from Sotheby's Auction in New York City on October 10, 2002, As Mastai Lot No. 56. This 26 star flag's history is unknown; but it was formerly # 253 in the acclaimed collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai, formerly of New York City, and later Amagansett, Long Island. Their collection was the result of fifty years of collecting, research and study by the late husband-wife team. Mastai, started collecting in the mid 20th century and amassed to greatest private flag collection in the United States; which he detailed in his ground breaking book The Stars and The Stripes; The American Flag from Birth of the Republic to the Present, published by Alfred Knopf, New York 1973, and was hailed as a revelation of the American Flag as art and as social history.

Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
26-Star United States Grand Luminary Flag
Date: About 1840-1844

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 Gallery II
26-Star Grand Luminary United States Flag
Date: About 1837 to 1845 26 Stars: July 4, 1837 - July 3, 1845 (Michigan statehood January 26, 1837)

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0607) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sotheby's.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:

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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.

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	12.5
Length of Fly	17

Frame
Is it framed?	yes
Frame Height	18
Frame Length	22.5

Stars
Number of Stars	26
How are the stars embeded?	Printed
Are there stars on obverse?	no
Are there stars on reverse?	no

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	All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.
Drawings	All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.

Condition
Condition	Fair
Displayable	yes

Date
Date	1837-1845

Exhibits

Exhibition Copy

First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0607) 26-STAR UNITED STATES "Grand luminary" FLAG Date: About 1840-1844 Medium: Printed on cotton Comment: The twenty-six star flag was valid from 1837 until 1845. During the presidential election campaigns of 1840 and 1844 the United States flag was integrated into the campaigns. Small cotton flags, such as this, were freely distributed to political partisans to use at rallies and parades. The era of the "cheap" flag had begun. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0607) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sotheby's. Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 – Gallery II (ZFC0607) 26-Star "Grand Luminary" United States Flag Date: About 1837–1845 26 Stars: July 4, 1837-July 3, 1845 (Michigan statehood January 26, 1837) Medium: Printed silk Comment: The admission of Michigan into the Union as its thirteenth free state complemented recognition the previous June of Arkansas as the thirteenth slave state. Together they brought the total number of states in the Union to 26. More importantly, admission of these two new states maintained the balance that had been established by Henry Clay's "Missouri Compromise" of 1820. Under the terms of that Compromise, Missouri had entered the Union in August 1821 as a slave state to balance the admission of Maine as a free state in March the previous year. The type of balancing act, which guaranteed equal representation in the U.S. Senate for North and South, would continue until 1850. The 26-star flag became the eighth official flag of the United States, remained in service for eight years. During that time the flag would for the first time-although certainly not the last time-be transformed into a political campaign tool. In the election of 1840 partisans of the Whig presidential candidate, William Henry Harrison, emblazoned his image and partisan slogans on the flag. More ominously, four years later during the Kensington Riots in Philadelphia the flag 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 (ZFC0607) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection through auction at Sotheby's of New York City.

Publications
Publication Images	Book Cover Publisher Info Cover Frontispeice Frontispeice detail Frontispeice detail 2 Page 103
Flag Books	The Stars and The Stripes - Mastai