US // Pennsylvania / Commonwealth Flag
The size and type of fringe on this embroidered silk flag are indicative of the military therefore it is likely that this flag was displayed on the office of the Adjutant General or one of his subordinates. The bears the arms of the Commonwealth on a national flag blue field.
Pennsylvania's Coat of Arms is probably the state's most familiar symbol. Based on a 1778 design by Caleb Lownes of Philadelphia, it features a shield crested by an American Bald Eagle, flanked by horses and adorned with symbols of Pennsylvania's strengths - a ship carrying the commonwealth's commerce to all parts of the world; a clay-red plough, signifying their rich natural resources; and three golden sheaves of wheat, suggesting fertile fields and Pennsylvania's wealth of human thought and action. An olive branch and cornstalk cross limbs beneath - a message of peace and prosperity. The state motto is festooned below.
The arms of the state worked thereon was the first description of the State Flag given in the Fall of 1778. It use apparently was limited to the State Wharf in Philadelphia. Militia needs in the 1790s prompted the adoption of the basis for the modern flag.
In 1799, the General Assembly authorized the official Pennsylvania State Flag, a banner fringed in gold with the Coat of Arms embroidered on a field of blue. During the Civil War, some Pennsylvania regiments carried battle flags modeled after the American flag, but with our Coat of Arms in place of the block of stars in the corner. This kind of creative license was discouraged in 1907 when the General Assembly acted to standardize the State Flag.
This flag dates from that period. Note the diagional striations indicating a long period of motionless display typical of interior office display.
ZFC Important Flag
