Exhibits Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.

Exhibition Copy

First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0022) 17-STAR UNITED STATES "EXCLUSIONARY" FLAG Date: About 1858-1859 Medium: Cotton; machine-stitched except for hand-stitched stars Comment: This flag, with its 17 stars, would seem to have been made between Ohio's admission to the Union in 1803 as the seventeenth state and Louisiana's achievement of statehood in 1812. However, the fact that the stripes and canton of the flag are machine-sewn precludes its having been manufactured before 1850. They suggest that it is, instead, an abolitionist "exclusionary flag." The Fugitive Slave Act – passed as one of the elements of the Compromise of 1850 – allowed "slave catchers" to roam the North in search of anyone who had escaped slavery. The presence of these individuals in New England particularly enraged abolitionist elements there, with some extremists going so far as to advocate Northern secession from the Union rather than submission to the outrages of the Fugitive Slave Act. Exclusionary Stars and Stripes made during the period from 1850 to 1860 reflected that sentiment. Such flags featured stars only for the free states, excluding the 15 slave states from the total represented. This 17-star flag, therefore, is thought to date from around 1858-1859, when 17 free and 15 slave states formed the Union. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0022) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD. Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 – GALLERY III (ZFC0022) 17-Star United States "Exclusionary Flag" Date: About 1858–1859 Medium: Cotton; machine-stitched except for hand-stitched stars Comment: This flag, with its 17 stars, would seem to have been made between Ohio's admission to the Union in 1803 as the seventeenth state and Louisiana's achievement of statehood in 1812. However, the fact that the stripes and canton of the flag are machine-sewn precludes its having been manufactured before 1850. They suggest that it is, instead, an abolitionist "exclusionary flag." The Fugitive Slave Act-passed as one of the elements of the Compromise of 1850-allowed slave catchers to roam the North in search of anyone who had escaped slavery. The presence of these individuals in New England particularly enraged abolitionist elements there, with some extremists going so far as to advocate Northern secession from the Union rather than submission to the outrages of the Fugitive Slave Act. Exclusionary Stars and Stripes made during the period from 1850 to 1860 reflected that sentiment. Such flags featured stars only stars for the free states, excluding the 15 slave state stars from the total. This 17-star flag, therefore dates from around 1858-1859, when 17 free and 15 slave states formed the Union.

Publications Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.
Publication Copy	Publication History: Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 59. "17-Star United States Exclusionary Flag This flag, with its 17 stars, would seem to have been made between Ohio's admission to the Union in 1803 as the seventeenth state and Louisiana's achievement of statehood in 1812. However, the fact that the stripes and canton of the flag are machine-sewn precludes its having been manufactured before 1850. They suggest that it is, instead, an abolitionist exclusionary flag. The Fugitive Slave Act-passed as one of the elements of the Compromise of 1850-allowed slave catchers to roam the North in search of anyone who had escaped slavery. The presence of these individuals in New England particularly enraged abolitionist elements there, with some extremists going so far as to advocate Northern secession from the Union rather than submission to the outrages of the Fugitive Slave Act. Exclusionary Stars & Stripes made during the period from 1850 to 1860 reflected that sentiment. Such flags featured stars only for the free states, excluding the 15 slave states from the total represented. This 17-star flag, therefore, is thought to date from around 1858-1859, when 17 free and 15 slave states formed the Union during the presidency of James Buchannan
Flag Books	The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict

Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.