35 Star U.S. Flag - West Virginia.
West Virginia, the thirty-fifth state of the Union, was carved from the mountainous counties of the Commonwealth of Virginia by the pro-Union forces inhabiting that north-western area of the state. After political machinations to permit the western counties to form a new state from a portion of Virginia with the constitutionally requisite consent of both parties, West Virginia was recognized on June 20, 1863, by the United States Congress. In accord with the 1818 Flag Act, the union of the United States flag was altered to bear 35 stars effective July 4th, 1863. Since nothing in that legislation specified how the stars were to be arranged, individuals and manufacturers chose patterns according to their own artistic inspirations. Today many of these designs are treasured as a form of American folk art expressed in cloth. While a multiplicity of star arrangements characterized the Civil War era, certain regional tendencies arose. In the Mid-Atlantic States, especially Pennsylvania and Maryland, the arrangement of the stars in circles and concentric rings tended to predominate. Based on similarities to later flags also emanating from the region, the manufacturer of this flag is thought to have been Jabez W. Loane of Baltimore.
The flag shown resembles a number of flags which can be identified from photographs as having flown on the locomotive that drew the funeral carriage for President Lincoln. In examing the flag there appeared the letter "P" marked on a star oriented on it's side in a vertical orientation but the "P" when it was applied to the star was in a horizontal orientation showing the "P" straight up and down position. It is believed this is a marking applied to keep to an order if was used on the Lincoln funeral locomotive, to indicate "Presidential Train." This style of star pattern was used only between Washington DC and Philadelphia before they were exchanged to a different star pattern. The name Jabez Loan indicates it was the maker since it was his star pattern that marked the US flags he made during the period and his factory was in Baltimore just miles up the road from Washington DC. Additional circumstancial proof suggest this flag was important because it came from the Star Spangled Banner Flag House the home of the Star Spangled Banner flag collection. The wear, size and image all conform to the photos of the flags on the locomotive that pulled the funeral train from city to city during it's journey to the burial site in Springfield, Illinois.
Hundreds of thousands saw these flags as the train proceeded from Washington to Springfield, Illinois, the president's burial site. There are existing photos of the train on page 389 of "The Civil War" by Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns and Ken Burns.
The stars are placed on the flag in a double circle with one star in the middle and one star in each corner on the canton.
Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0023)
Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery III
(ZFC0023)
35-Star United States Flag
Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 73.
Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0023) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD.
ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed
Sources: