Exhibits Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.

Exhibition Copy

First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0620) UNITED STATES REVENUE SERVICE ENSIGN Date: About 1870-1880 Media: Bunting stripes and canton, cotton stars and coat-of-arms; hand sewn. Comment: On March 1st, 1799, Congress required cutters and boats employed in the service of the revenue for the United States Treasury Department to fly a distinctive ensign and pennant. On August 1st of that year, the Secretary of the Treasury defined those flags: "The ensign and pendant consists of sixteen perpendicular stripes alternate red and white, the union of the ensign bearing the arms of the United States in dark blue on a white field." Until 1915, this distinctive flag identified those U.S. Customs and Revenue Service. After 1915, the same flag, but with the Coast Guard's coat of arms on the stripes was flown by the Revenue Service's successor, The US Coast Guard. When the Revenue Service flags were adopted, sixteen states comprised the Union (Tennessee having been admitted in January of 1796.) Although Ohio became the seventeenth state in 1803, no change was made in the Revenue Service flags. Nevertheless, the utilization of sixteen stripes reflects the pervading concept that the number of stripes be increased with every addition of a new state. The Indian Department, then a branch of the War Department, also adopted a distinctive flag with the coat-of-arms of the U.S. in its canton. Visiting Indian delegations, which received such flags in 1804/1805 bore seventeen stripes, and their cantons showed seventeen stars surrounding the U.S. coat-of-arms. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0620) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sotheby's. Special Memorial Day Display Suspended from ceiling of Moraga Room. Presidio of San Francisco Officers Club Memorial Day 2003 13-Star, 16-Stripe United States Revenue Cutter Ensign Date: About 1870 1880 Comment: On 1 August 1799 the Secretary of the Treasury authorized a special variant of the U.S. flag for use by the ships of the U.S. Revenue Service, which was charged with collecting customs duties and preventing smuggling. To distinguish Revenue Cutter Service flags from those of the U.S. Navy, the flag adopted had reversed colors in the canton (which bore the U.S. coat of arms) and 16 vertical, rather than horizontal stripes. At the time of its creation, 16 states formed the Union, Tennessee having been admitted as the sixteenth state on 1 June 1796. Incidentally, the Stars and Stripes itself never had 16 stripes. (ZFC0620) Baltimore Star Spangled Banner Flag House 3/2004 (ZFC0620) U.S. Revenue Cutter Service Ensign Date: 1870-1880 Media: Wool bunting field and canton with cotton appliquéd stars and eagle, all hand sewn. Size: 80" on the hoist by 144" on the fly (6.75' by 12') Comment: On March 2nd 1799, the United States Congress authorized the U.S. Treasury Department to acquire ships for the purpose of patrolling the U.S. coastline in an effort to enforce its tariffs and prevent smuggling. The United States Revenue Cutter Service was thus a predecessor to the US Coast Guard. To distinguish the ships owned by the Treasury Department from those under construction for the revitalized Navy Department, the Treasury Department, on August 1, 1799, created a distinctive flag for its own ships. The president signed in the act of the 2nd of March, 1799, which stipulated sixteen perpendicular stripes, alternating red and white with the union bearing the arms of the United States in dark blue on a white field. At the time of this flags creation, sixteen states formed the Union, Tennessee having been admitted in 1798. In 1915, the flag was modified by the addition of the Coast Guard insignia on its stripes for service as the ensign of the newly formed agency. The old design, however, continues in use as the flag designating U.S. Customs at ports of entry. Provenance: Acquired in 2002 by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Mastai Collection through auction at Sotheby's of New York, New York. American Maritime Flags of the 19th Century Ships and coastal installations (both governmental and private) require flags that can be identified from great distances and in inclement weather. Recognition was achieved during the nineteenth century by providing these vessels and facilities with unusually large flags. Exhibited here are several American flags related to such vessels or facilities from the period 1818 to 1893. They are all large bunting flags. Generally speaking, a large flag is one that is too unwieldy to be carried by one person with a one-man staff. Until 1854 in the British Army, and 1895 in the American Army, military colors carried by units on foot were made of silk and measured no more than 6 feet on the staff by 6 feet 6 inches on the fly. Those dimensions required slightly more than four square yards of cloth and were considered the maximum size for transport by an individual on a staff. Most of the flags in this particular exhibit exceed those parameters. Due to their size, large flags such as these are difficult to display and are seldom sought by collectors. Museums often relegate them to perpetual storage. This exhibit is unusual, therefore, in that it displays so many of these flags in one place. This exhibit is sponsored by the Veninga-Zaricor family and Good Earth Teas, Santa Cruz, CA; The Flag Center, Presidio of San Francisco, CA; and the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, Baltimore, MD.

Publications Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.
Publication Copy	Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 31. United States Revenue Cutter Service Ensign On March 2nd, 1799, Congress authorized cutters and boats employed in the service of the revenue for the United States Treasury Department to fly a distinctive ensign and masthead pennant. On August 1st of that year, the Secretary of the Treasury defined those flags: "The ensign and pendant consists of sixteen perpendicular stripes alternate red and white, the union of the ensign bearing the arms of the United States in dark blue on a white field." Until 1915, flags of this type identified vessels of the US Customs and Revenue Service. After 1915 the same flag included the addition of the Coast Guard insignia on the stripes, the service which succeeded the Customs and Revenue Service. Customs today continues to use a modernized version of this flag. When the Revenue Cutter Service flags were first adopted, sixteen states comprised the Union. Although Ohio became the seventeenth state in 1803, no change was made in the Revenue Service flags. Nevertheless, the utilization of sixteen stripes reflects the pervading concept that the number of stripes be increased with every addition of a new state. The Indian Department, a branch of the War Department, also adopted a distinctive flag with the coat of arms of the U.S. in its canton. Druckman, Nancy, Jeffery Kohn, The American Flag: Designs for a Young Nation, New York, Abrams, 2003.P.63.
Publication Images	Cover Frontispeice ZFC0620

Title information is available upon specific request. Additional information available upon request to researchers, writers and others demonstrating special circumstances. In some situations, information may not be available.