45 Stars U.S. Flag - 1st N.Y. Engineers, John R. Thompson - Spanish American War - Capture of Puerto Rico, 1898.
This expansive machine sewn, wool, 45 star flag is distinguished by the small stars on the canton, which, due to their small size, have a distant and celestial appearance. In 1898, this flag accompanied John R. Thompson, an officer of the First US Volunteer Engineer Regiment, to Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War. Officer Thompson, of the 2nd Battalion's Company K, took this flag with him and inscribed it with the names of the various locations where the unit encamped. The flag is also inscribed "Reg. Cols." which has been interpreted as standing for 'regimental colors'. However, the flag's large size of almost 8' x 12' makes it more likely that this was the regiment's camp flag, where it was likely flown above the camps set at each of these Puerto Rican locations.
John Thompson was the president of New York City's Engineer Club; the organization which had presented the First US Volunteer Engineer Regiment their stand of colors and preserved this flag and another smaller 13 star United states Flag (see ZFC0700) after the Spanish American War.
Eventually it became flag #102 of antique dealer Mr. Boleslaw Mastai's acclaimed flag collection. The Mastai flag collection was the result of fifty years of research, study, and careful preservation. Mastai began collecting in the 1940s and accumulated one of the greatest private flag collections. His important book, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag from Birth of the Republic to the Present is considered an important work which brought attention to the American Flag as something with artistic and social importance.
Mastai selected this flag to be featured on the July 7th, 1980 cover of Time magazine. The collector's choice of this particular flag in this instance is unknown, but this action alongside the flag's prominent place in Mastai's collection speaks to the importance he attributed to it.
Exhibition - Presentation History:
This flag's image was displayed in Howard Madaus' presentation at the 6th Annual Flag Symposium at The Flag House and Star Spangled Banner Museum in Baltimore, Maryland on April 9, 2005. Madaus' presentation was titled: The Other 48s a look at the evolution of the 48 star US Flag and the various star patterns it engendered.
Publication History:
Mastai, Boleslaw & Marie Louise, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag from Birth of the Republic to the Present, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1973, p. 218-219.
Time Magazine, Volume 116, No.1,7 July 1980, Front Cover.
Provenance:Acquired at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 10 October 2002, formerly Mastai #102, Mastai flag Collection, Amagansett, NY.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Volunteer Engineers and the Engineers Club, Electrical Engineer (July to December), New York, 1898. P.561.
Mastai, Boleslaw and Marie-Louise D'Otrange, The Stars and The Stripes: The American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the republic to the Present, Knopf, New York, 1973. P218-219.
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
Image of United States 45 Star Flag, Time Magazine, Volume 116, No.1, Cover.
