13 Star, U.S. Navy Boat Flag,4-5-4, Lt. Stephen Decatur.
This handmade, wool, 13 star, U.S. Navy Boat Ensign dates from the early to mid 19th century. It has a canton arrangement of three rows of stars; four, five, four. It exhibits moderate wear and numerous period repairs. Inscribed on the hoist is "A. R. DECATUR. A.R." Decatur refers to Anna Rowell Philbrick Decatur, born in 1821 and deceased in 1906. Anna wedded Commodore Stephen Decatur in 1848. Decatur was appointed Lieutenant in 1841 and assigned to the sloop, Warren, at Pensacola. This small boat flag may date from his service on that ship.
In 1798, after previously disbanding the Continental Navy of the Revolutionary Era, the US Congress reestablished a permanent navy for the United States. This force followed the traditions of navies the world over of flying a national ensign on warships, and smaller versions of the same on small boats, gigs and harbor craft.
From 1795 until 1818 the U.S. Flag bore 15 stars and 15 stripes and the U.S. ensign (a nation's flag flown at sea) was no different. But, the addition of new states that were not represented on the US national flag eventually rendered these flags and ensigns obsolete.
In 1818, the Third Flag Act restored the ensign to 13 stripes, but also allowed for the addition of new stars to the canton upon the admission of new territories to full statehood. This was to officially occur on the next 4th of July, following a new state's admission to the Union.
The period from 1818 to 1851 was a very dynamic time for the United States. In these 32 years, 12 states were added to Union, changing the ensign's stars each time accordingly. This required the continuous alteration of outdated ensigns.
The US Navy made its own ensigns, flags and pennants in flag lofts at the various yards under its control, generally employing local seamstresses, who were often the wives and widows of seamen. They would make flags according to circulars handed down from the Secretary of the Navy as to how the stars should be arranged upon the canton of the ensign, although in the absence of a circular, artistic license played a role. Flags star numbers on vessels at sea were altered by the ship's sail makers. Because of the omission of sizes in the circulars, a commodore would specify the size himself. In the early 19th century it was a common, if unofficial, naval practice to make a sailing ship's ensign equal to its breadth. However, the sizes of flags for small boats varied according to the preferences of the captain.
The small size of the navy allowed for easy compliance with little thought given to the cost. But, after the Mexican-American War in 1848 and the admission of California to statehood in 1851, the US navy began to expand into a two ocean navy. It was in this era and probably as a cost cutting measure, but possibly because the stars would be larger, and therefore more visible, that the navy officially began reducing the number of stars on ensigns on small boats. There is some speculation, based upon nautical paintings, that this had already been accepted in common practice.
The precise dates of this practice of reducing star numbers on small craft are uncertain. However, in the collections of the US Naval Academy, there is a small boat ensign from Perry's 1853 visit to Japan that bears the full complement of 31 stars, presumably supplied by the flag loft at his embarkation point of Norfolk, Virginia (although preparations for the expedition to Japan commenced in 1851). Conversely, there is also a 16-star boat ensign marked NYC (Navy Yard, Charleston, outside Boston) which is dated 1857. Presumably, the practice did not occur all at once, but was implemented over time on different vessels and at different yards.
The surviving records are incomplete but based upon surviving flags, paintings and photographic evidence, we may deduce the following:
* From its beginnings the U.S. Navy used small ensigns on smaller boats & gigs.
* They could have either 13 stars or the correct star count.
* About the time of the War with Mexico the Navy began to reduce the number of stars on small boat ensigns.
* The first known USN Table of Sizes is dated 1854.
* This practice was official by the late 1850s.
* Initially the number of stars 20, 16, or 13 stars arranged either in rows of 5-5-5-5 or 4-4-4-4, or 4-5-4 respectively.
* Eventually the number was standardized at 13 stars.
* In the 1850s US Navy reintroduced the 1770s pattern of rows of 4-5-4 stars.
* In the 1860s they reintroduced another Revolutionary War pattern, the 3-2-3-2-3.
* The 4-5-4 and the 3-2-3-2-3 pattern flew concurrently during the Civil War.
* Probably because of supplies on hand, the 4-5-4 continued into the 1870s
* In the mid 1870s the use of the 4-5-4 was discontinued.
* Then 3-2-3-2-3 pattern would continue in use until 1916.
From the 1870s until 1916 we may observe the following pattern:
* 1870s-1885 - stars in canton do not consistently "point" the same direction.
* 1882-1890 headings marking the size of the flag are more prevalent, e.g. US Ensign", "U.S.E. No. 8" (a date); brass grommets supplant hand-whipped button holes or plain grommets.
* 1890-1900 - stars now point in common directions: rows of 3 "up," and rows of 2, "down." Headings are marked with size, location of navy yard where the flag was made and the date of manufacture.
* 1900-1916 - stars now all point "up," dates no longer indicated on brass grommets, and stars are sewn to the canton with zig-zag machine stitching.
Since 1916 the small boat flags of the US Navy have displayed the full complement of 48, 49 or 50 stars.
This flag was formerly part of the Decatur-Armsden Collection; a family collection that included artifacts and flags from the Lear-Storer-Decatur family, which encompassed a number of important historical figures from the 19th, 18th and 17th Centuries.
This cache of historical goods descended from various branches of the Lear-Storer-Decatur family and included items from: Sir William Pepperrell Baronet and John Storer (both part of the 1745 expedition to Nova Scotia to capture Ft. Louisburg), Colonel Tobias Lear (General Washingtons Aide de Camp and friend), Benjamin Lincoln Lear (son of Tobias Lear), Commodore Stephen Decatur (nephew of his famous namesake Commodore Stephen Decatur, 1779-1820), Rear Admiral George Washington Storer (nephew of Tobias Lear, 1789-1864), Ichabod Goodwin ( Governor of New Hampshire), and Admiral of the Navy George Dewey.
The accumulation of historic artifacts was a treasure trove which was rediscovered in the mid 20th Century when the family as a whole decided to sell a barn at Kittery Point, Maine, the spiritual demesne of the extended family. The barn had served as a repository for a vast amount of historical material that has been passed down through the generations. When inventoried the barn was found to contain a significant archive of papers, memorabilia, photographs, books, artifacts and twenty historic flags. The historic trove was divided up amongst the three branches of the family.
Alice Decatur Armsden's share of the collection contained the flags and was maintained in its entirety until she settled the estate with her husband in 2009. In the estate were flags from some of America's most illustrious naval families such as Decatur, Storer and Dewey. The flag grouping consisted of boat flags, ensigns, signal flags, burgees, rank flags, distinguishing flags, service flags and a yacht ensign. The star totals of the US flags and ensigns were; 13 stars (4), 16 stars, 26 stars, 34 stars (3), 35 stars, 45 stars (2) and 48 stars.
Dating from the early 18th to the early 20th century, the flags were acquired from the men of the family who served as naval and preserved by the women of the families; notably Anna Rowell Philbrick Decatur (1821-1906), the wife of Stephen Decatur and Mable Storer, wife of Rear Admiral Storer. She carefully preserved and conserved these flags, and act for which posterity is forever indebted.
ZFC Significant Flag
Provenance:
• Acquired by Commodore Stephen Decatur.
• Conveyed to his wife Anna Rowell Philbrick (ARP) Decatur, until passing, 1906.
• Thence descent in the Decatur, Storer & Dewey families' Kittery Point, Maine, until the mid-20th Century.
• Thence to Mrs. Alice Armsden (née Decatur) & Mr. Douglas Armsden until his passing, 2009.
• Sold by family at 2-Day Winter Antiques & Fine Art Auction, James D. Julia, Fairfield, ME, 4-5 February 2010.
Sources:
US Navy"Boat" Flag - Dave Martucci's Flag Pages. From:http://www.vexman.net/smalboat.htm
Land and Sea Collection Nautical, Marine Antiques & Marine Art, Dive Helmets, Ship Models, Sextants. From: http://landandseacollection.com/id585.html
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection.
