U.S. 31 Star Flag, Pratt St. Riots, Baltimore, MD - Massachusetts Militia vs. Confederate Sympathizers.

This small hand-sewn 31 star (1851-1858) wool flag has a remarkable story. It was discovered in a Baltimore home at 1741 E. Lombard St; one block north and a few blocks east of the infamous 19 April 1861 event now known as the Baltimore Riot of 1861. Also called the Pratt St. Riots, they were between Southern sympathizers and members of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry en route to Washington for Federal service. It is regarded by many historians as the first bloodshed of the Civil War; and it is believed that this flag was displayed by Union supporters.

The flag was acquired by the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum (SSBFH) in 1968 from Eugene Nardone, who discovered it while working on the Lombard St. home. The flag was kept by the SSBFH, but curiously, not with the general flag collection but rather in a special cupboard, with another flag (ZFC0022) that was associated with the Pratt St. Riot, leading to the speculation that both flags are associated with the event.

The flag examined at the request of the SSBFH by Rear Admiral William Rea Furlong. USN retired, on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, who authenticated the flag as a period piece. The SSBFH further speculated that the flag may well have been made in Baltimore by Mary Pickersgill or her daughters, whose shop was only about 10 blocks away.

The noted flag historian Howard Madaus examined the flag in the 1990s and speculated that it that it was of the size and type of flags used by the US Navy for Boat Flags. Curiously it is of a similar size and type of flag Commodore Perry took to Japan in 1850. Perry's surviving flag at the US Naval Academy is almost identical to this flag; the only exception is the vertical row of six stars is on the hoist side of Perry's flag. This is the same flag that was taken to the USS Missouri in September 1945 to be placed on the deck when the instrument of surrender of Imperial Japan was signed.

This it is entirely likely that this 31 star United States flag, which became current upon the admission of California in 1851, was made for the Navy by Mary Pickersgill; used by as a small boat flag in the 1850s and then returned to Baltimore where it was displayed during the Baltimore Riot of 1861.

Provenance:
• Thought, by the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, Baltimore, MD, to have been made in Baltimore, MD by the shop of Mary Pickersgill, 1851/58; and authenticated by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. as a period flag.
• Discovered at 1741 East Lombard St., Baltimore, MD, 1960s.
• Retained by Mr. Eugene Nardone, until 1968.
• Sold to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House and Museum (SSBFH), 1968.
• Purchased by private treaty by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD, in 1996.



Exhibition History:
University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012

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