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Florida’s Best Newspaper for Antiques & Collectibles
JULY 2017 • Volume 30 No. 11 www.antiqueshoppefl.com
America’s Star Spangled Banner
By Larry LeMasters
LeMasters’ Antique News Service
American flags hold interesting places in history. for longevity, since it was last changed on July 4,
Imagine owning the flag that draped Abraham 1960 after Hawaii became the 50th state.
Lincoln’s casket, or the flag that flew on Mount The 16-star American flag is, perhaps, the rarest of
Suribachi, or the flag that Betsy Ross first made, or all American flags since there was never a time that 16
the flag that Sir Frances Scott Key saw flying over states existed alone, yet the 16-star flag was made from
Fort McHenry, or the flag that flew on the World about 1845 until the Civil War. After the original 13
Trade Center on September 11, 2001. colonies united, the flag expanded to 15-stars on May
As a young Marine attending OCS at Quanitco, 1, 1795 with the addition of Kentucky and Vermont,
Virginia, I was lucky enough to see the flag that six and then it expanded to 20 stars on July 4, 1818 when
United States Marines raised atop Mount Suribachi Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee
during the battle of Iwo Jima. Only a soldier knows joined the union.
the true feeling of seeing America’s flag flying With all that said, the 16-star flag does exist (it also
during war—not only is it the symbol of freedom, has 16 stripes) and is called the 16-star Stonington
it is the symbol that tells all American soldiers, we Flag since it resides in Stonington, Connecticut. The
have marched through the valley of death and we documented history of the Stonington flag and its
are still here! Hand-sewn, 13-star flag known as the “Great Luminary Pattern.” 16-stripe design suggests that it may well be from the
Today, there is a growing number of flag collectors. The 13-star flag was formalized in 1777. period (1796-1803), and thus the only one of its kind in
American flag collectors are usually interested in existence. While the 16-star count was never official,
very old flags. Collectors look for the unusual numbers of stars, which were only current that would not have stopped people from making them. Thousands of 39-star and 42-
for about a year before star parade flags exist, and they were never official star counts either.
more states were added to the Continued on Page 3
Union, which then resulted in
more stars. One of the more
flag, which had duration of In This Issue . . .
unusual flags is the 49-star
only 1 year, July 4, 1959 - July
3, 1960. July Collecting
Of course, the original 13- History ...pg. 32
star flag is also unusual, but
exceptionally difficult to ever War Bond
own. It was in use from June Posters
14, 1777 - May 1, 1795. ...pg. 29
Officially, the United States
flag has been changed 26
times since the new, 13-state Shelley
China
country adopted it. The 48- ...pg. 30
star version went unchanged
for 47 years. However, the Questions
44-star flag, made of silk, tassel and fringe has hand-
painted stars. The 44-star flag was formalized in 1891 current 50-star flag now holds & Answers
and was used for five years. the record (since July 5, 2007) WACS ...pg. 14
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