Union Flags of the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, a struggle that sought to remove stars from the United States Flag, the star count instead increased. From 1861 to 1865 the Stars and Stripes underwent a metamorphosis in both symbolic importance and popular use to truly become our paramount national symbol.

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First Captured U.S. 33 Star Flag, Pensacola, Fla.
33 Star U.S. Storm Ensign - 1st U.S. Flag captured in Civil War at Pensacola, & USN officer recapture, January 1861 THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG CAPTURED DURING THE CIVIL WAR. This iconic ghost of an American flag is the earliest documented captured flag from the American Civil War.
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U.S. 33 Star "Eagle Canton" Militia National Color
US 33 Star "Eagle Canton", California Militia National Color, Evergreen Home Guard. This flag is a striking example of mid-19th century workmanship; and likely one of the oldest surviving United States Flags both from and made in California.
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U.S. 33 Star Flag - Oregon into the Union.
33 Star U.S. Flag - Dodge Family Flag from the Oregon Trail. This all-cotton U.S. flag bears its 33 stars in the form of two concentric circles in the canton. They may have symbolized the eternal nature of the federal union during that era of the threatened secession.
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U.S. 33 Star Grand Luminary Flag.
33 Star U.S. Grand Luminary Flag, 1859 - 1861, former Soldiers & Sailors Museum & Memorial Collection. The canton of this Grand Luminary flag is its most striking feature. The use of four different size stars to form the great star on a Grand Luminary flag is thought to be not only unique, but also extremely rare.
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U.S. 33 Star Garrison Flag.
33 Star U.S. Garrison Flag - Handmade. Oregon's entry into the Union on February 14th, 1859 prompted a rapid obsolescence of the 32-star flag adopted the year before to honor Minnesota. On July 4th, 1859, the 33-star flag became official becoming the first of four star counts (33-36) that flew throughout the Civil War.
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U.S. 33 Star Flag - Oregon.
U.S. 33 Star Flag - Oregon. In this flag the canton extends through the top six stripes only, rather than the traditional seven. To explain the six-stripe canton depth, a hypothesis evolved that any flag made with the canton resting on a red stripe indicated its manufacture during a period of war.
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U.S. 33 Star Grand Luminary Flag.
33 Star U.S. Grand Luminary Flag, 1859 - 1861, former Harry Oswald Collection. Grand Luminary star arrangement had been advocated for decades earlier as a star pattern for United states flags, and it still enjoyed great popularity at the beginning of the Civil War, as this home-made flag demonstrates.
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U.S. 33 Star, 10 stripes home made flag.
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U.S. 33 Star Flag - Parade Flag.
33 Stars U.S Flag - Parade Flag. This small, wool, block-printed, 33 star parade flag is made as a full flag print. It is still attached to its wooden staff, a rarity in flags from the ante-bellum era. Parade flags like this example were extremely popular for patriotic purposes prior to and during the American Civil War.
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U.S. 34 Star flag - Battle List Flag.
34 Star United States flag - Battle List Flag. As a collector this is one of the flags that made a lasting impression on me like no other in the collection. You might say it is my favorite Civil War flag but it goes furhter and I would put it at the top of one of the most telling in terms of humane attributes.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag.
34-Star U.S. Flag, Civil War Period. The flag's exact history is unknown but it was formerly flag # 339 in the acclaimed flag collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag - "FT Foster, Maker".
34-Star U.S. Flag - "FT Foster, Maker", New York. This large 34-star flag with a rectilinear star field arranged 7-7-6-7-7 in horizontal rows. The flag was formerly part of the acclaimed collection of noted collector Harlan Crow's Crow Family Holdings collection of Dallas, Texas.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag, Military Attribution
U.S. 34 Star Flag, Military Attribution. The flag's history is unknown but it was formerly flag # 38 in the acclaimed collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai.
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U.S. 34-Star Flag.
U.S. 34-Star Flag. This 34-star U.S. flag with double appliquÃ© cotton stars has an interesting canton. At first glance the stars appear to be in a rectilinear arrangement of 5-6-6-6-6-5 horizontal rows. However, the slight curve to the outer canton stars gives the distinct appearance of a large single ring oval encircling 16 center stars.
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U.S. 34 Stars Flag Peale Museum.
34 Star U.S. Parade Flag, 1861 - 1864 - Peale Museum The hand-stitched silk field of this flag is composed of 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes, each about 1 inch wide. The topmost stripe is red as is the bottom most.
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U.S. 34 Star National Color St. Louis Home Guard.
U.S. 34 Star National Color St. Louis Home Guard, 1861. According to the De Young Museum records, this flag came from the St. Louis, Missouri area as a gift from Laura S. Edwards in 1924. It is said to have been half-staffed on the death of Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon, who was the first Union general killed during the Civil War.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag, 1861 - 1863 "Snowflakes Flag".
34 Star US Flag, 1861 - 1863, "Snowflakes Flag" former Mastai Collection. This 34 star U.S. flag bears an extremely unusual, perhaps unique, star field. The five clusters, of six stars each, and the four accent stars at each outer edge of the canton are actually unexplained. They have been variously interpreted.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag - Arthur Bullus Bradford.
34 Star U.S. Flag - Arthur Bullus Bradford, 1st U.S. Consul to Amoy, China. Likely one of the first U.S. flags made in China. It belonged to Arthur Bullus Bradford (1810-1899), who was President Abraham Lincoln's Consul to Amoy, China in 1861. This was a flag he had made and used during his tenure in Amoy, China.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag - Secretary of Navy Middendorf.
34 Star US Flag, 1861 - 1864, foreign made, former Secretary of Navy J. William Middendorf collection, former Mastai. This flag has a star pattern running in a 4-6-6-6-6-6 row series and a double layered canton. â€¨â€¨This flag was possibly made in Europe in the 1860s, indicated by the unique construction of the flag.
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U.S. 34 Star Flag, 1863 - 1865, "Grand Luminary".
34 Star US Flag, 1863 - 1865, "Grand Luminary", Parade Flag. This is a 34 star flag made of silk that was acquired by Professor Henry Berger's father from an estate out of Frederick, MD, during the late 30s or 40s, or early 50s. It is rare to have such large stars in the corners.
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U.S. 34 Star Parade Flag .
34 Star United States Parade Flag. This is a flag of an unusual pattern because of the odd star added in the upper right corner of the canton of this important flag. A flag-printing block was designed for 33 stars, but was modified to print 34 star flags.
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U.S. 34 Star Parade Flag.
U.S. 34 Star Parade Flag. Small flags like this would have been seen being carried at American Civil War rallies and parades in all regions of the North. This flag was discovered on a farm in rural Indiana near the city of Muncie.
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U.S. 34 Star Army Mounted Troops Guidon, 1862.
U.S. 34 Star Army Mounted Troops Guidon, 1862. Although the cavalry of the U.S. Army was not provided with the Stars & Stripes at regimental level officially until 1895, in 1862 the War Department changed the pattern of the swallow-tailed guidons that were carried by each company of a regimen to the design of the Stars & Stripes.
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U.S. 34 Star Guidon.
U.S. 34 Star guidon from the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry Volunteers. A significant Company "L" guidon from the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry Volunteers who fought in Florida in February of 1864 capturing a Confederate artillery battle flag as well as a Stars and Bars camp flag during the Civil War.
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U.S. 34 Star Recruiting Flag, 7th N.J. Infantry.
U.S. 34 Star Flag, New Jersey state contract (made by Yard), used by the 7th New Jersey Infantry, Captain Hopkins. This 34 Star flag was made under contract to the State of NJ by William J. Yard of Trenton as part of a group of flags for use by recruiters endeavoring to fill the ranks of New Jersey's volunteer forces during the Civil War.
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34 Star U.S. Flag President Lincoln's Funeral.
34 Star Grand Luminary Flag used in President Lincoln's Funeral. After his assassination a funeral cortege by railroad was planned. At each stop his body would lay in state so that the nation might mourn its fallen martyr. This flag was flying when Lincoln's funeral train arrived at Albany on the tracks of the NY Central Railroad.
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U.S. 34 Star "Our Policy the will of the People"
34 Star U.S. Flag "OUR POLICY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE", Sovereignty slogan. This enormous flag bearing the inscription, Our Policy: The Will of the People, is an early and striking example of the flag being linked with partisan political discourse.
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U.S. 32 Star canton converted to a 34 Star Flag.
Originally a 32 Star canton converted to a 34 Star U.S. Flag. The construction details of this flag indicate that it began with a 32 Star canton, for Minnesota's admission to the Union. While 32-star flags were official for a year, some manufacturers may have anticipated the 33 Star Oregon flag, as 32 star flags of any type are very scarce.
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U.S. 32-Star to 34-Star Conversion Flag.
U.S. 32-Star to 34-Star Flag Conversion - "Melville". The construction details of this flag, which is inscribed, "Melville, 60 E. 26th St.", indicate that it began with a 32-star canton that represented Minnesota's admission to the Union. While 32-star flags were official for a year but 32-star flags of any type are very scarce.
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33 Star U.S. Flag converted into a 34 star flag.
34 Star U.S. Flag - conversion from a 33 star flag, 1863. This large, wool, single-appliquÃ© 34 star flag was professionally made. Although it bears no makers mark, it is marked with a "15", presumably the size of the fly. This flag dates from 1859, and was originally a 33-star flag with the stars arranged in horizontal rows of 7-6-7-6-7.
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35 Star U.S. Largest Surviving Civil War Flag.
35 Star U.S. Flag from Erie Rail Road Depot, Jersey City, N.J. - Largest surviving Civil War era Flag. This huge flag flew over the Erie Railroad's central depot in Jersey City, New Jersey, during the Civil War; which was a central departure point for thousands of troops. It is thought to be the largest surviving Civil War flag extant.
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U.S. 35 Star Flag - Maj. Gen George Thomas
35 Star U.S. Flag - Maj. Gen George Thomas This period example flag was made to mark the admission of West Virginia as the 35th state on June 20, 1863; and would remain accurate until the admission of Nevada on October 31st 1864, a period of 1 year, 4 months, 11 days, and would remain official until July 4th 1865.
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U.S. 35 Star Ensign.
35-Star U.S. Ensign. The flag's early history is a ship's Ensign in the Civil War. it has construction similarities with ZFC3324, which is a cut down ensign that is missing several feet from the original fly length.
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U.S. 35 Star National Flag.
U.S. 35 Star National Flag. This important flag has its history in California for it flew over the General Hardware Store in Marysville, California from 1863 to 1880, according to museum records.
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U.S. 35 Star Flag.
35-Star US Flag. The flag's history is unknown but it was formerly flag # 236 in the acclaimed collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai.
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U.S. 35 Star flag.
U.S. 35 Star flag. The machine-stitched field of this flag is composed of 13 horizontal alternating red and white stripes; the 35 stars are in a seven by five rectilinear pattern. All features seen on flags made late in the American Civil War.
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U.S. 35-Star Institutional or Commercial Flag.
U.S. 35-Star Institutional or Commercial Flag. The field of this flag is composed of 13 alternating red and white stripes; the 35 hand-sewn stars are in a seven by five rectilinear pattern. The flag is finished on the heading with five brass grommets. All of these features are commonly seen on flags made late in the American Civil War.
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U.S. 35 Star Parade Flag.
35-Star United States Parade Flag. This block-printed parade flag was made as a full flag print. It bears evidence of once being tacked or nailed to a staff as there is a narrow heading sewn to the hoist edge for reinforcement. Parade flags like this were extremely popular for patriotic purposes during the Civil War.
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U.S. 35 Star Flag - Baltimore Riots of 1861.
35 Star U.S. Flag discovered adjacent to the route of the infamous Pratt St. Riots, 1861. It was flown from a Baltimore house along the route of the infamous Baltimore Riots. Also called the Pratt St. Riots, the clash was between Southern sympathizers and members of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry en route to Washington for Federal service.
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35-Star U.S. Lincoln Mourning Flag, Boston.
35-Star U.S. Lincoln Mourning Flag, Boston, 1865. "This flag was flown from the front porch of my husband's maternal grandfather's house in Boston in 1865, to celebrate the end of the Civil War. It was flying there the day President Lincoln was assassinated." - Bernice Best.
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U.S. 35-Star Ensign "Maxwell".
U.S. 35-Star Ensign "Maxwell". The 35-star flag commemorates the state of West Virginia, which entered the Union in June 1863 and the flag then became official on 4 July 1863. Written in brown ink is the word "Maxwell", that is most likely a reference to a previous owner.
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U.S. 35 Star Jack & Presidential Signal, 1863-1865
Rare 35 Star U.S. Jack & Presidential Signal, 1863 -1865. Jacks bearing 35 stars were current from 4 July 1863 to 4 July 1865 and are extremely rare, despite the fact that the US Navy expanded greatly during the American Civil War, leading to a large increase in the manufacture of flags, ensigns, jacks, pennants, signal and designating flag
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U.S. 35 Star Double Ring Flag - Jabez Loane.
U.S. 35 Star Double Ring Flag - Jabez Loane. This large, 35 star, double ring flag is attributed to the Baltimore maker of tents, awnings and flags, Jabez Loane. It is rare when an actual manufacturer of flags can be identified, but this flag is similar in design to a surviving specimen in the Loane Brothers office in Baltimore Maryland.
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U.S. 35 Star Flag - Jabez Loane.
35 Star U.S. Flag - West Virginia. West Virginia, the 35th state of the Union, was carved from the mountainous counties of the Commonwealth of Virginia. After political machinations to permit the western counties to form a new state from a portion of Virginia, West Virginia was recognized on June 20, 1863.
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U.S. 35 Stars Artillery National Color.
U.S. 35 Stars Artillery National Color. The oral tradition associated with this flag is that it was used during the American Civil war by Major Wilbur Fiske Goodspeed, Chief of Artillery for the 4th Army Corps of the US Army of the Cumberland. Major Goodspeed had formerly been Captain of Cotters Battery A, 1st Ohio Light Artillery.
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U.S. 35 Star US Infantry National Color.
U.S. 35 Star Infantry National Color, Double Ring Philadelphia Oval, 1863 - 1865. This flag is outstanding example of a "Philadelphia Oval" National Color as provided to the Philadelphia Clothing Depot under contract by contractors Horstmann Brothers & Co.; William F, Scheible and by former Horstmann employees Evans and Hassall.
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U.S. 35 Star National Color - NY depot
35 Star U.S. National Color - New York Quartermaster Depot. This color bears the distinctive square canton seen on New York Depot national colors. It has been suggested that the NY Quartermaster depot was instrumental in utilizing the square canton on national colors.
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U.S. 35 Star Recruiting Flag 32nd Indiana Infantry
U.S. 35 Star Recruiting Flag, 32nd Indiana Infantry with Battle Honors. A U.S. National recruiting flag circa 1863/64 with battle honors of the 32nd Indiana, Vol. Infantry featuring 35 stars. It has been modified to include eight battle honors, the first being "ROWLETT'S STATION" (the first engagement for the 32nd Indiana Infantry).
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U.S. 35 Star, 2nd Tenn. Vol. Cav. Camp Flag
U.S. 35 Star, 2nd Tenn. Vol. Cav., National Veteran Funeral Flag. The flag being attributed to the Civil War via its association with both Charles Berry and Major James Berry, as indicated by the family history. This Civil War era flag also has a history of post-war GAR encampment use.
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U.S 35 Star Flag - Hidden Grand Luminary Star.
35 Star U.S. Flag - Grand Luminary "Hidden Star". This Grand Luminary flag with 35 star pattern is unique; a "Great Star" created by twenty smaller stars surrounds a large central star. The use of this Civil War era flag is unknown, particularly because it bears no resemblance to any equally sized flag issued to U.S. troops at this time.
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Gen. Philip Sheridan's Personal Headquarters Flag
Gen. Philip Sheridan's Personal U.S. 35 Star Cavalry Headquarters Flag - 1864 This 35 star silk United States national flag (1863-1865) was used during the American Civil War by Major General Philip Sheridan as both the Cavalry Corps Commander of the Army of the Potomac and the Commanding General of the Army of the Shenandoah (1864 -1865).
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U.S. 36 Star Flag - John Spargo
36-Star U.S. Flag, Double Ring Star Pattern: A John Spargo Flag. 36-star U.S. flag with stars arranged in a Double Circle or Double Medallion pattern with a single star in each corner of the canton and a larger star in the center. Nevada was admitted to statehood on October 31, 1864
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U.S. 36 Stars Flag - Brooklyn Bridge.
36 Stars U.S. Flag, re-used at opening of Brooklyn Bridge. On May 24, 1883, President Chester Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland participated in the ceremonial opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. For the opening ceremony, elaborate preparations were made which were intended to awe the viewers and feel proud to be New Yorkers.
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U.S. 36 Star Flag - Nevada, 1865.
U.S. 36 Star Flag Nevada Admission to the Union, 1865. The 36-star US flags became official on 4 July 1865; however, entrepreneurs made them available as soon as statehood for Nevada loomed on the national horizon in 1863.
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U.S. 36 Star Flag, Nevada 1865.
U.S. 36 Star Flag. This 36 Star U.S. flag has an unusual canton. The most common pattern for 36 star flags is rectilinear six by six; however, the horizontal rows of hand sewn stars on this flag are arranged 7-7-8-7-7, a star pattern less frequently seen.
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U.S. 36-Star Flag - J. Sebring Maker, NYC.
U.S. 36-Star Flag - J. Sebring Maker, New York City. This large wool 36-star flag was made by J.E. Sebring who was a Civil War-era flag maker from New York City. Sebring is recorded as starting in the flag business in 1862, doubtless as a response to the tremendous demand for flags engendered by the American Civil War.
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U.S. 36-Star Flag.
36-Star U.S. Flag. The flag's history is unknown but it was formerly flag # 49 in the acclaimed flag collection of noted antique dealers Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai.
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34 Star US Flag - conversion into a 36 star flag.
36 Star U.S. Flag - conversion from a 34 star flag, 1865. This large, professionally made wool flag is a conversion. The striking star pattern at first seems to be part of the original flag, but upon inspection, several of the stars can be seen to have been added at a later date.
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36 Star "Grand Luminary" Lincoln Mourning Flag.
36 Star U.S. "Grand Luminary" - President Abraham Lincoln Mourning Flag. This 36 star grand luminary flags history is rich; it was used as a mourning flag after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It was formerly part of the acclaimed collection of noted antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai and his wife Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai.
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U.S. 36 Star Flag - Flank Marker.
U.S 36 Star Flag - Flank Marker, 1865. Both the size and the fact that this flag is fringed suggest that this is a small flank marker made to indicate the location of an infantry regiments flanks when in line of battle or on parade.
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U.S. 36 Star Parade Flag.
U.S. 36 Star Parade Flag, 1865. The 36-star US flags became official on 4 July 1865; however, entrepreneurs made them available as soon as statehood for Nevada loomed on the national horizon in 1863.
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U.S. 36-Star Parade Flag.
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U.S. 36 Star Parade Stick Flag.
U.S. 36 Star Parade Stick Flag. Small printed parade flags like this example were extremely popular during the American Civil War. Usually waved at parades, rallies and sanitary fairs, these flags were widely used by civilians to demonstrate support for the war effort.
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U.S. 36-Star Flag Grant-Colfax Campaign Flag.
U.S. 36-Star Flag Grant-Colfax Campaign Flag. This small, 36-star, cotton parade flag was overprinted for the 1868 presidential election with the names of the two Republican Party candidates: "US Grant for President, S. Colfax for Vice President".
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36-Star U.S. Flag Cleveland & Hendricks Campaign.
36-Star U.S. Flag Cleveland & Hendricks Campaign, 1884. This small printed cotton 36-star printed United States flag was made to commemorate the admission of Nevada in 1864. It was made official on 4 July 1965 and it was then rendered obsolete a scant two years later by the admission of Nebraska in 1867.