39 Star Unofficial U.S. Flag in anticipation of the admission of Colorado and Dakota into the Union.
According to family tradition, Mrs. George Kennedy of Philadelphia prepared this flag during the Centennial Celebration of 1876. The 39 stars reflect the anticipation that the Territories of Colorado and Dakota would be admitted into the Union. While Colorado would be admitted as the 38th state, Dakota Territory's internal politics would prevent its admission (and then as two states) until 1889.

In Dakota Territory, wrangling over the location of the new states capitol prevented a unanimity needed to apply for statehood for several more years. Several flag manufacturers during the next decade would anticipate Dakota's Territory entry into the Union as a single state and also produced flags with thirty-nine stars; however, when the Territory was finally admitted in November of 1889, it had divided into two states. Accordingly there never was an official thirty-nine star U.S. flag.

Accordingly there never was an official 39-star U.S. flag. These flags were first produced during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant and were used during the administrations of Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison.

Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
39-Star United States Flag, Unofficial

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery V
39-Star United States Flag, Unofficial

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 100.

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0038) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD.

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.

Aikman, Lonnelle, New Stars for Old Glory, National Geographic Society, July, 1959.

U.S. Flags With Unofficial Number Of Stars, Flags of the World, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-unoff.html

39 Star Flag -unofficial- (U.S.), Flags of the World, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-39.html

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection