U.S. 31 Stars President Zachery Taylor Mourning

U.S. 31 Stars Mourning flag - Mourning border for Presidents Taylor and Lincoln.
The star arrangement of these Stars and Stripes reflects a frugal modification of an older 30-star flag by the inclusion of an extra star to represent California's admission to the Union. From 1840 through 1860, inexpensive flags were printed on cotton or poplin (a fabric combining cotton woofs with silk wefts), utilizing the same type of carved wooden blocks that were used for printing illustrations. Rather than make an entirely new printing block for a 31-star canton, the craftsman at the flag factory where this flag was produced simply added one star to the original pentagonal design. This saved the labor that would have been required for cutting the other 30 stars. In 1850 President Zachary Taylor died in office. In accordance with Victorian-era practice, the border of this flag was decorated with black silk crepe to indicate that its owner was mourning the loss of a person, in this case the president. According to family tradition, this flag was brought out again in 1865 and displayed in honor of Abraham Lincoln, after he was assassinated in April that year.

Exhibition History:
#19 Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum.

First Presidio Exhibit
31-Star United States Mourning Flag

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 GALLERY III
31-Star United States Mourning Flag

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 53.

Provenance:
• Displayed at 075 Washington Blvd, Baltimore, MD, 1865.
• Acquired by Mrs. F.F. Weinwatcher, Baltimore, MD, until 1928.
• Donated to the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Museum of Baltimore, MD, 1928.
• Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, Baltimore , MD until 1966.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD., 1996.



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.

The Many Constellations of Old Glory, Historical Flags of Our Ancestors!, 11 November 2011, from: http://www.loeser.us/flags/us_flags.html

31 Star Flag - (1851-1858) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 11 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1851.html

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection