This rare flag of
thirty-seven stars is a wonderfully appealing example of
a post-Civil War era flag, made and cared for in a
period of reconstruction and recovering optimism about
the future of the United States. The flag is
stamped on the hoist and on the large center star "V
Howell", presumably the original owner of the flag.
The extremely folky canton, with its large center star,
a phalanx of surrounding stars that rotate or "dance" on
their axis, and the obvious space left on the flag for
the addition of new stars with the addition of new
states, is unique. The rich coloration of the
canton and stripes, and the tan aged color of the cotton
stars, is exemplary for a flag of this period. The
flag is entirely hand sewn, although there are places
where machine stitching reinforces seams of the hand
sewn stripes. This is not at all uncommon,
especially since it's clear that V. Howell was proud of
the family flag and took great care to preserve it.
The canton is pieced from two lengths of blue wool
bunting. The thread used to piece the canton has turned
to a brown color, possibly from an original blue hue
that oxidized. This brown thread through the
center seam of a canton is typical in wool flags from
the Civil War and post-Civil War period. There are
a handful of flags from this period that form what is
known among collectors as a "phalanx" pattern. The
use of the term dates to ancient Greek warfare, meaning
a square military formation that forms to protect a
center region. Phalanx pattern flags are very
rare. Some are known to have an open center
without a center star to protect. This phalanx
pattern flag is arranged to protect its center star,
which represents Nebraska, fittingly central to the
United States, with the ranks of soldier stars still to
be filled. |
