Apollo 14 - EVA Moon Flag displayed on Lunar surface and returned to Earth 1971.
Apollo 14 - 50 Star, EVA Moon Flag, one of four known flags exposed on the lunar surface and subsequently returned to Earth. The dimensions of this flag are 12" X 18", which is larger than the 4" X 6" flags in the Official Flight Kits (OFK), that were flown aboard both the Apollo Command and Lunar Modules. This and one other flag currently in a private collection were reportedly taken out of the LM by Alan Shepard, the second human and the first American in Space, It can be said the two flags which Alan Shepard took EVA were the largest.
Alan Shepard took this flag to the moon at the request of Brad Washburn, Director of the Museum of Science in Boston, who later conveyed it to Jack Naylor, who subsequently consigned it to auction via Guernsey Auctions in NYC in the autumn of 2007 where it was acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection .
There were numerous flags carried in in the OFK representing the member states of the UN, the US states. All of these flags measured 4" X 6" and similar flags were in the OFKs on each of the Apollo missions. These flags were subsequently distributed upon their return to earth.
With the exception of the primary mission flag, a 2.5' X 4' 50-Star U.S. designed to be planted on the surface of the moon, the size of all the flags carried in OFKs was approximately 4" X 6." Thus, the two Shepard flags, which he carried in his Personal Preference Kit (PPK), are the largest known EVA flags returned to Earth.
More research could potentially yield more flags. It is known from the official Apollo 14 Press Kit, that there were also "two large" U.S. flags carried on the mission, one each for the House and Senate.
Thus, this Apollo 14 flag, which Alan Shepard took for his friend to the moon in January 1971 and post-marked perhaps with the tires of the lunar Mobile Equipment Transporter, is one of the only flags to be displayed on the surface of the moon and subsequently returned to earth. A unique and truly celestial flag.
Exhibition History:
The Naylor Collection
Boston, MA
University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012
Provenance:
• This flag was acquired through purchase by Bradford Washington, Director of the Museum of Science, of Boston, MA, in 1971.
• Conveyed to Capt. Alan Sheppard who transported the flag to the Moon's surface in the Lunar Module Antares during the Apollo 14 Mission, 1971.
• It was re-conveyed to Bradford Washington after the mission, 1971.
• It was conveyed to Jack Naylor of Boston, MA, who displayed it in his private collection, 1992.
• Sold via Guernsey's Auctions of New York City, to the Zaricor Flag Collection in 2007.
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