7 Star Confederate 1st National Camp Flag, March - April 1861, former Star Spangled Banner Flag House Collection.
This seven star Confederate flag was formerly part of the collection of The Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum. Founded in 1927, it is one of Baltimore's oldest museums open to the public. The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Association, Inc. was formed in 1927 to operate a museum dedicated to the story of Mary Young Pickersgill who made the large 30' x 42' Star-Spangled Banner that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that later became the United States National Anthem. Mary Pickersgill's flag still survives and now hangs at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. As one of the earliest institutions dedicated to the study of flags, The Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum also became a repository for flags from other eras, amassing one of the most impressive flag collections in the nation.

The 7 white, five point stars which are arranged in a single ring around a center star date this flag to the period of months between March 4 and May 7, 1861. This design is a variant of the first flag adopted by the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America.

This flag's history remains unknown. It was donated to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House by the Mrs. Mary Gertrude Deck King, the daughter of Theodore Deck, a long-time railroad mail car employee. How Mr. Deck came to acquire this flag is also unknown.

This flag bearing the first Confederate National pattern was authenticated by the Smithsonian Institution and examined by Howard Madaus who identified it, most likely, as a camp flag. In the British Army and some other army usage, a camp flag is a non-ceremonial flag used to indicate the presence of a unit of a corps, division or regiment in a camp or other location.

Text on Tag attached to Flag : "5.2.1984(or 9 ?)
Stars sewn on obverse with the blue fabric cut away on the reverse, edges not finished. Stars in circle. Given to donor by her father, Theodore Deck, who worked in the mail car of the railroad. His parents were born in Germany, but he was born in America.
Flag examined by Howard Madaus who expressed the opinion it was typical of camp flags in the Confederate Army. First pattern, 7 star variant for camp use. Circa 1861. Framed (outside dimensions 30 x 48).

Exhibition History:

First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0180)
7-Star Confederate National Flag (The Stars And Bars)

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 Gallery III
(ZFC0180)
7-Star Confederate National Flag (The Stars and Bars)

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library
LIFE AND TIMES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The Exhibit
Simi Valley, CA
1 June 2014 to 30 September 2014

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 66.

Provenance:
• Confederate States of America, 1861.
• Acquired by Mr. Theodore Deck, and by descent to daughter.
• Mrs. Mary Gertrude Deck King, Baltimore, MD, until 1975.
• Gifted to Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, Baltimore, MD until deaccession, 1996.
• Acquired by private treaty by the Zaricor Flag Collection, 1996.
Deaccessed Heritage Auctions - 13 November 2023 - Auction 6276



ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources: