Thirteen star flags,
representing our original thirteen colonies, have been
produced throughout our nation's history, and are one of
the most common star counts one can encounter.
Some are small and printed for hand waving, while others
are large and made to fly on navy and maritime vessels
or simply to commemorate our 13 colonies. Their
patterns are varied,
though one of the most common is the 3-2-3-2-3, also
known as the Hopkinson pattern after Francis Hopkinson
of New Jersey, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence and designer of this American flag pattern. Although
the pattern is somewhat ordinary among thirteen star
flags, occasionally one encounters a more common design
on a flag of
uncommon beauty, as is the case with this flag.
Dating to the period of the Civil War, or perhaps
earlier, the flag is entirely hand sewn. Its
beautiful stars are canted in various directions and, as
a group, are somewhat off-center on the canton.
The fly edge of the flag has been roughly trimmed,
presumably to remove damage, though not folded back and
re-stitched. Regardless of the losses to the fly
end, the resulting proportions of the flag are pleasing,
and seem to be "just right". The hoist of the flag
is missing. Yet overall, the flag itself strikes
me as a beautiful model example of an antique American
flag, and is one of my favorites. Its "look and
feel", with its occasional patches and repairs, looks
and feels like an antique American flag should. Its
obvious wear, unpretentious utilitarian style and rich
coloration elevates the flag to a picture perfect
rendition of what one would imagine when they imagine
Old Glory. |
