30 Star Political Parade U.S. national flag.
The 1848 presidential election campaign saw Democratic Party candidate Lewis Cass pitted against Whig Party candidate Zachary Taylor. Best known for his victory at Buena Vista during the Mexican War, General Taylor achieved success by using the same campaign tactics the Whigs at employed in 1840. The 30-star version of the U.S. national flag played its role in the campaign in the form of numerous inexpensive small flags, probably made by Annin & Co. of New York, a flag business founded in 1847. These flags both bear the double concentric rings pattern, created when flag manufacturers began to employ methods of accommodating the increasing number of stars.

Three (3) U.S. presidents served under this flag, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. During this period the first conventions were held to discuss woman's suffrage and the California Gold Rush commenced, enticing thousands to seek their fortune in the West.

Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
30-Star United States Parade Flag

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 Gallery II
30-Star United States Parade Flag

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. 49.

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC1456) in 1997 from C. Wesley Cowan of Cincinnatui, OH.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:


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

30 Star Flag - (1848-1851) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 11 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1848.html

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.

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection