ZFC Item Section - U.S. 13 Star Navy Boat Flag No.14.

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	Exhibition History First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0633) THIRTEEN-STAR, UNITED STATES NAVY BOAT FLAG, NO. 14 Date: 1868-1870 Media: Wool bunting, with red and blue elements press dyed; hand-sewn sections Comment: During the American Civil War, the United States Navy mushroomed in size, and the demand for flags exceeded the Navys ability to furnish flags through the various U.S. Naval Yards at key ports along the Atlantic. Historians have speculated that the Navy Yards turned to civilian contractors to make up the deficit. While the Navy Yard boat flags were sewn with the stars arranged in three horizontal rows, 4-5-4, it appears that those supplied by the contractors followed a different Navy tradition and arranged them in five staggered horizontal rows, 3-2-3-2-3. Sewing of the stars to each side of the canton was a tedious work, and one of the contracting firms after the Civil War produced the pattern with a press block or resist dying technique that had been patented with improvements made by John Holt. The separate canton section of the field was placed in a block that prevented the areas that were to show as white stars from receiving the blue indigo dye. The same technique of blocking out sections of the striped field, so that only alternate strips of red would accept the dye, created two sections of the thirteen stripes. All three elements would then be sewn together by hand to make an inexpensive flag. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0633) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sothebys.

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

Exhibition History
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0633)
THIRTEEN-STAR, UNITED STATES NAVY BOAT FLAG, NO. 14
Date: 1868-1870
Media: Wool bunting, with red and blue elements press dyed; hand-sewn sections
Comment: During the American Civil War, the United States Navy mushroomed in size, and the demand for flags exceeded the Navys ability to furnish flags through the various U.S. Naval Yards at key ports along the Atlantic. Historians have speculated that the Navy Yards turned to civilian contractors to make up the deficit. While the Navy Yard boat flags were sewn with the stars arranged in three horizontal rows, 4-5-4, it appears that those supplied by the contractors followed a different Navy tradition and arranged them in five staggered horizontal rows, 3-2-3-2-3. Sewing of the stars to each side of the canton was a tedious work, and one of the contracting firms after the Civil War produced the pattern with a press block or resist dying technique that had been patented with improvements made by John Holt. The separate canton section of the field was placed in a block that prevented the areas that were to show as white stars from receiving the blue indigo dye. The same technique of blocking out sections of the striped field, so that only alternate strips of red would accept the dye, created two sections of the thirteen stripes. All three elements would then be sewn together by hand to make an inexpensive flag.
Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0633) in 2002 from the Mastai Flag Collection of New York City through auction at Sothebys.