36-Star U.S. Flag, Double Ring Star Pattern: A John Spargo Flag.
John Spargo, the Director of the Bennington Museum in Vermont, previously owned this striking flag. Author, educator, historian and progressive socialist, Spargo wrote about and collected variants of Old Glory.

Americans have been enormously inventive in the designs they have created for the star field of the national flag, such as this double ring pattern which features a large central star. In the 19th century individuals and manufacturers were free to create their own designs for the stars on the flag. The fly end was formerly folded back on itself and hemmed to the header, possibly to facilitate display.

While the arrangement of stars in the United States flag in a ring or a circle around a central star dates possibly as early as the later years of the Revolution (and definitely to the 1790s) the concept of multiple concentric rings surrounding a center star first appears during the War with Mexico (1846 1848). The concept became more popular in the Middle Atlantic states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland during the Civil War, where the center star and inner ring was to represent the original thirteen states, and the outer ring more recent additions to the Union, all equal and united in perpetuity. Some of the manufacturers of these concentric ring star patterns are well known, including Horstmann Brothers & Co. of Philadelphia, Evans & Hassall of Philadelphia, and Jabez Loane of Baltimore.

These makers produced flags with all the stars equal in size. Another maker (possibly William Yard), thought to have been employed in New Jersey, may have made similar flags but with the central star larger than those in the surrounding rings. 34 and 38 star variations of this star pattern are known to survive. This flag also bears the name Spargo inked onto its heading, a reference to the flag historian and previous owner, John Spargo.

Exhibition History:

Baltimore Star Spangled Banner Flag House 3/2004
(ZFC0647)

Presidential Debate, Washington University at St. Louis, October, 2004
(ZFC0647)

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection in 2002 from the Mastai Collection through auction at Sothebys, New York, New York.

ZFC Significant Flag

Provenance:
• John Spargo, Bennington, VT.
• 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.



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