34 Star United States flag - Battle List Flag.
Although the 34 Star United States flag became official on July 4th, 1861, many 34 Star flags were made soon after Kansas' admission to the Union on January 29th, 1861. Settlers in Kansas had been fighting bitterly over slavery a full seven years before the secession crisis that culminated in the firing on Fort Sumter. Written on the heading of this flag is the inked inscription, "Charles H. Collins/ No. 4 (or 9) Hillhouse Ave.," followed by a listing of major and minor battles from the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12th, 1861 to the battle of Seven Pines on May 31st/June 1st, 1862. Efforts to identify Charles H. Collins have proved elusive, as several soldiers bore that name during the War. However, given the address, it is likely that Collins was a student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who decorated this flag with the names of the engagements as the news traveled north. Why he stopped the inscriptions in 1862 is not known.

American Maritime Flags of the 19th Century
Ships and coastal installations (both governmental and private) require flags that can be identified from great distances. Recognition was achieved during the nineteenth century by providing these vessels and facilities with flags that were especially large. Exhibited here are several American flags related to such vessels or facilities from the period 1818 to 1893. They are all large bunting flags.

Generally speaking, a large flag is one that is too unwieldy to be carried by one person if the flag is attached to a staff meant to be carried by single individual. Until 1854 in the British Army, and until 1895 in the American Army, military colors carried by units on foot were made of silk and measured no more than 6 feet on the staff by 6 feet 6 inches on the fly. Those are unusually large dimensions: A flag with an area encompassing slightly more than four square yards of cloth was deemed the maximum size for transport by an individual on a staff. Most of the flags in this exhibit exceed those parameters.

Due to their size, large flags such as these are difficult to display and are seldom sought by collectors. Museums often relegate them to perpetual storage. This exhibit is unusual, therefore, in that it displays so many of these flags in one place. This exhibit is sponsored by the Veninga-Zaricor family and Good Earth Teas, Santa Cruz, CA; The Flag Center, Presidio of San Francisco, CA; and the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, Baltimore, MD.

Exhibition History:

Baltimore Star Spangled Banner Flag House 3/2004
(ZFC0612)
34-Star United States Flag

Presidential Debate
Washington University at St. Louis
October, 2004
(ZFC0612)

Provenance:
• Charles H. Collins, New Haven, CT, 1861/62.
• Acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Boleslaw & Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai, New York City, and Amagansett, NY, The Mastai Collection, until 2002.
• Sold via Sotheby's Auction in New York City to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2002.

ZFC Important Flag

Sources