Originally a 32 Star U.S. Flag converted to a 34 Star U.S. Flag.
The construction details of this flag indicate that it began with a 32 Star canton, for Minnesota's admission to the Union. While 32-star flags were official for a year, some manufacturers may have anticipated the 33 Star Oregon flag, as 32 star flags of any type are very scarce.

Because they became obsolete after only one year, many 32-star flags likely remained unsold in manufacturer's inventories. Then, with the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, demand for 34 Star flags rapidly surpassed the supply. The prudent manufacturer of this printed 32 Star flag cut out several stars from other flags of the same style, hand-stitching two of them between the rows to create a new 34 Star flag. Several other examples of the printed 32 Star flags modified into 34 Star currently survive. Although there is a lack of evidence, there is reason to believe that these printed U.S. flags may have their origins from Annin & Company of New York City, a firm founded in 1847 and still in existence. Made during the presidency of James Buchanan, this flag was in service during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Patterns of star arrangements can be observed to increase in variety in concurrence with the accession to the Union of every new state. When several flags of the same era are compared, a variety of materials can be seen. Nevertheless, official flags, by a large, continued to have been made of bunting and sometimes cotton and silk. The thirty-fourth state was Kansas, added in 1861. Although the secession of the South from the Union occurred that year, the flag of the United States persisted in including stars for all the American states, whether federal or confederate.

Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0174)
32-Star United States Flag, Modified to 34 Stars

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 GALLERY III
(ZFC0174)
32-Star United States Flag, Modified to 34 Stars

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0174) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD.
Deaccessed Heritage Auctions - 13 November 2023 - Auction 6276

Publication History:
Cooper, Grace Rogers, Thirteen Star Flags: Keys to Identification. Washington D.C., 1973, pp. 36-39.

Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 62.

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.

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.

32 Star Flag - (1858-1859) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1858.html

34 Star Flag - (1861-1863) (U.S.), Flags of the World, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-1861.html

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection