34 Star US Flag, 1863 - 1865, "Grand Luminary", Parade Flag.
This important flag was presented to Ben Zaricor and inscribed on the back is "Professor Henry Berger of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He gave this to Ben Zaricor on Jan 10, 2003 in S.F. (San Francisco, CA) during the flag exhibition at The Presidio, San Francisco; The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict". It was a token of Berger and Zaricor's long friendship since 1970, when Ben was a student and Berger a new professor.

This is a 34 star flag made of silk that was acquired by 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.

The 34-star flag became official on July 4th, 1861 when a star was added to mark the admission of Kansas (January 29th, 1861). The only President to serve under this flag was Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865). The stars are arranged in the pattern of a Grand Luminary or Great Star pattern. These were popular versions of the national flag used from 1820 until the 1880s. These flags were a reflection of the national motto 'E pluribus unum', Latin meaning 'From many, one'. Small flags like this became popular in the North for parades, recruitment, patriotic displays and electioneering. This variant is quite rare in that it is unusual to see a small-parade staff flag with large stars in each corner of the canton.

We do not know the name of the family, but the flag came from an estate in Frederick, Maryland. Frederick is same town in which the famous confrontation took place between Confederate General Stonewall Jackson and Barbra Fritchie.

Exhibition History:
Chicago Meeting December, 2003
(ZFC0005)
34-Star United States Flag

Provenance: the Henry Berger family of St. Louis, MO gave this flag to Mr. Ben Zaricor (ZFC0005) in January 2003. Mr. Berger's father acquired the flag from an estate in Frederick, Maryland in the 1940s.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:



Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

Samuel Chester Reid, Wikipedia, 24 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Chester_Reid

Great Star Flags (U.S.), Flags of the World, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-gstar.html

Martucci, David, Great Star Flags, US Flags: Part 5, 25 October 2011, from: http://www.midcoast.com/~martucci/flags/us-hist6.html

Barbara Fritchie, Wikipedia, 28 October, 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Fritchie

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection