38 Star Grand Luminary U.S. Flag - Colorado's admission into the Union, 1876.
38 Stars: July 4, 1877 July 3, 1890 (Colorado statehood August 1, 1876)
One of the last examples of the "Great Star Pattern" that was used on the American flag; due to a higher number of states/stars which made the design aesthetically impossible. During this period, the movement toward the horizontal star pattern is quite evident; there are numerous examples of the horizontal pattern and only rare appearances of a non-horizontal pattern, such as the "Great Star Pattern."

Although the circular or concentric ring pattern would survive another decade, the centennial era essentially brought an end to Reids insightful and handsome proposal. The arrangement of the stars in rows had been standard for Navy flags since its rebirth in 1798 and the Army had gradually been won over to the same concept during the Civil War. Nevertheless, it would not be until 1912 that all agencies of the federal government would come to follow a common pattern of star arrangement. There is no law that requires the citizens of the country to follow the same pattern. The 38-star Stars & Stripes flew during the presidencies of Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison.

The wool/bunting field is composed of 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes each about 3.75 inches wide. The top-most stripe is red and the bottom-most stripe is red. Inset into the field, and extending through seven stripes from the top, is a dark blue canton (union) 28.75 inches wide on the fly x 27.5 inches, with 38 stars, 2.5 inches across, with a star pattern printed on the obverse and reverse sides in the form of one grand luminary (great star), emblematic of the national motto, "E Pluribus Unum" from many, one. The flag is machine stitched and is attached with grommets.

Exhibition History:

First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC1423)
38-Star "Grand Luminary" United States Flag.

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery V
(ZFC1423)
38-Star "Grand Luminary" United States Flag.

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr. Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 98.

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection in 1994 during a trip to Arkansas and Missouri.

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.

Samuel Chester Reid, Wikipedia, 24 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Chester_Reid

Great Star Flags (U.S.), Flags of the World, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-gstar.html

Martucci, David, Great Star Flags, US Flags: Part 5, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.midcoast.com/~martucci/flags/us-hist6.html

The Many Constellations of Old Glory, Historical Flags of Our Ancestors!, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.loeser.us/flags/us_flags.html

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection