Early United States Flags 1795 to 1818

15 Star U.S. Jack- Merchant ship Vineyard, 1796-1818. This flag now bears 15 stars in three horizontal rows of 5 stars each, corresponding to the official U.S. jack for 1795 - 1818. The field is made of dark blue bunting, pieced horizontally by hand. From the William H. Bartlett Collection.

15 stars & 15 Stripes replica flag, 1912-1914 This flag is a small wool replica modeled after the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the naval portion of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.

16 Star U.S. Flag, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, America's First Museum, circa 1796-1812. This unofficial 16-star flag saluted the sixteenth state, Tennessee, which joined the Union in 1796. Later there were also unofficial flags representing Ohio (1803), Louisiana (1812), and Indiana (1816).

U.S. 16 Star Flag - Grand Luminary "Peoples Flag". This is a 16 Star flag in the Grand Luminary pattern, circa 1796-1808. After Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in 1791 and 1792, Congress approved a 15-star 15-stripe flag in 1795. After that new stars officially recognized no new States until a revised law went into effect in 1818.

17 Star, 17 Stripe U.S. Ensign, Privateer Blockade, War of 1812 captured by Captain James Clephan, HMS Charybdis This flag is significant for its rarity and symbolic importance. There are no other 17-stars with 17-stripes known U.S. flags to survive.

17 Star US Flag - Hubbard Family, 1803-1812, former Mastai Collection. Flags bearing 17 stars and 13 stripes were never an official flag of the United States; however numerous surviving examples confirm both their existence and use. This example was made to indicate the admission of Ohio as the 17th state in 1803.