Most people know surprisingly little about early American flags. In fact, most Americana dealers know as little about them—and sometimes even less than—the average person on the street. It’s downright peculiar when you think about it, and the situation continues to perplex me. What item can you honestly say is more American than the American flag? Save possibly an original draft of our Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, there is no antique that so encapsulates our nation’s heritage and the word “Americana.”

Now, I am a dealer in early flags, so I am more than a bit biased; but, even when I play devil’s advocate with myself, I cannot think of any other item that should be treasured over all other American antiquities.

A couple years ago, a rare little Connecticut needlework brought $203,750 at a Sotheby’s auction. The maker of the needlework was unknown. The piece had strong graphics, including an urn of flowers, a row of trees, and a house, but most people wouldn’t have recognized the needlework’s rarity or understood the very high selling price. That same auction included one of the most important pieces of Americana ever to come up for sale. It was the very first American National Flag to be manufactured of 100% American-made wool bunting. This means that it was, at least on record, the first entirely American-made American flag.

Historically, blue bunting for flags was imported from England. On March 2, 1865, however, Congress passed a law mandating that all American flags manufactured for the federal government from that point forward had to be made of American-manufactured materials. Documentation accompanying this particular flag substantiated that it was the first flag to meet these requirements. The flag was manufactured at a firm owned by well-known Union General Benjamin Butler. Butler presented this flag to President Lincoln for his approval just three days before his assassination.

While only a handful of experts could tell you why the little Connecticut textile was worth more than 10 or 20 thousand dollars, I think it’s safe to say that most people in this country, if asked to guess the value of this American flag, would have said $100,000, or possibly a few hundred thousand, or maybe more. In other words, many people out there, in theory, would have recognized the flag’s value and should have been eager to acquire it. Additionally, the Sotheby’s auction took place shortly after September 11. Can you imagine a better time to sell such a flag in New York? Well, the first entirely American-made American flag, in a rare star pattern that closely resembled the flag that flew over Fort Sumter, South Carolina, presented to Lincoln three days before his death, sold in New York City in the wake of one of the most patriotically stirring events in American history for $58,250.

Fifty-eight thousand dollars. How may mass-produced, art deco-period vinyl and chrome marshmallow sofas will that buy you? Two. How many 19th century game boards will that buy you with American flags painted on them? Maybe three, maybe one. How many 1920s vases will that amount buy you at a high-end arts and crafts auction? Depending upon which one you want, quite possibly none. And how many paintings have you seen of questionable beauty bring more than $58,000? I have seen more than I could easily count.

So what’s wrong? Why do Americans pay comparatively little for the American flag and so much more for other types of decorative arts? I don’t mean to put down early American furniture, samplers, and folk art. I sell these things, too, and I am passionately interested in them. But how have early, rare American flags come to be ignored by the majority of dealers and the collecting American public at large? No one seems to have the answer. It remains true, however, that in the high-priced world of rare Americana, the most American item of all, even when it has unmatched historical importance and great folk quality, brings proportionately little when compared to its relative counterparts. In short, early American flags are one of the least-respected items in the field of antiques.

The history of our flag’s evolution is a fascinating study. Most people don’t realize that we don’t know how the stars were actually configured on the first American National Flag. It’s a mystery. We are fairly certain, however, that the stars did not form a circle. This means that the flag you see carried in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot is probably not historically correct. In fact, the flag carried during the early part of the Revolution didn’t contain any stars at all. The first American flag was our colony flag, called the Grand Union or the Continental Colors. It did have 13 red and white stripes, representing the 13 original colonies, but instead of stars it possessed the British Union Jack in its canton (fig.1). This denoted that America was not yet a nation unto itself but a colony of England.

Most people simply assume that the 13-star “Betsy Ross” flag appeared at the onset of the Revolution. In fact, the American flag as we know it did not come about until 1777, and even then it was probably not produced in great quantity. Actually, so few Stars and Stripes from colonial times exist that only three examples are thought to be in private hands. Including those represented in museums, the total is believed to be fewer than 30. No qualified person has ever traveled the world to inspect every one of them, prove that each one dates to the 18th century, and arrive at a total. But what we do know is that none of these flags have a circle of stars like the Betsy Ross design.

There is a 1779 painting of George Washington, by Charles Wilson Peale, that depicts a flag with a perfect circle pattern in the background. This flag has a blue field and stars but no stripes. It may be the only evidence in a painting, however, that suggests that a circle-pattern flag may have existed in Colonial times. Otherwise, you won’t see an American flag with a perfect circle of stars made before the 1890s. The “Betsy Ross circle pattern” is now believed to likely be a creation of Betsy Ross’s grandchildren in the 1890s (fig.9). This reality is very hard for people to accept, and it’s one of the common hurdles I have to pass when I am contacted by a new client who wants to acquire an early 13-star flag.

Most clients who approach me have a pretty good idea of what they want. Their ideas come from the movies they’ve watched, the many images they’ve seen of the Betsy Ross circle design, and everything they learned in grammar school about our flag. I often have to tell them bluntly that, in fact, “that’s not what you’re looking for” and then proceed with the sometimes-difficult job of explaining why.

So, why do flags look like they do now, and what did the early ones look like? In 1777, our forefathers passed the Flag Act. This dictated that there would be 13 red and white stripes, 7 of them red and 6 white, and 13 white stars in a blue field representing a “new constellation.” But there was no description of what this constellation should look like. In fact, there was no legislation passed to dictate this aspect of the flag’s design until President Taft signed an executive order in 1912. In other words, for the first 135 years of our flag’s life, there was no set way to lay out the design of the stars. Furthermore, there was nothing saying the stars had to have 5 points. Sometimes (although very rarely) the flag carried the 6-pointed Stars of David. Flag makers, therefore, had great leniency with respect to American National Flag design, and all sorts of peculiar and beautiful star configurations were pursued. In 13-star flags, the most common configuration was some variation of stars in rows. A series of rows of 3-2-3-2-3 was most common. This often created a secondary pattern that looks like a diamond with a star in each corner (fig. 2).

There are 4 things that drive the price of flags. These are, in rough order: size, age, design, and historical significance/provenance. Size plays a huge role in a flag’s salability and is a much more important factor than most people think. I have a much better chance of selling a relatively common, circa 1900 flag that is very small, say 2’ x 3’ or smaller, than I do of selling a Civil War period flag in a size more typical of the 19th century, say 7’ x 10’. People like to have flags framed for decorative use in homes, offices or places of business, and flags larger than about 5 1/2 feet in length are simply too big for most of my clients.

Age is a more obvious issue with regard to price. Generally, I buy flags that are made prior to 1912. This means I mostly concentrate on flags with 46 stars and fewer. Flags containing 48 stars, made between 1912 and 1959, are abundantly available in factory-made, common forms, but there are some 48-star flags that are handmade or otherwise atypical. Unless they are homemade or have some other desirable attributes, the value of a typical 48-star example ranges between a mere $2 and $200.

Something that surprises most people is that American flags were not used in the same way they are today until the Centennial Celebration of American Independence in 1876. Prior to the 1870s, flags were primarily used by the military, by private ships, and to mark government institutions. Private citizens didn’t display flags on their porches very often, nor did they appear in great numbers at parades. It is for this reason that flags made prior to the Civil War are extremely rare, and flags made before 1820 are practically nonexistent.

Historical significance or provenance is an obviously important factor. Flags used during the Civil War, for example, are greatly desirable. Flags made for the Centennial Celebration garner a lot of interest. And flags linked to political campaigns are among the most valuable of all, having their own niche of collectors (fig.10).

Sometimes a flag’s history is obvious, based on the number of stars, period construction, and any verbiage that is written or printed on it and can be associated with a particular person or historical event. Such history must be proven, of course, because flags with unsubstantiated stories—stories handed down through families or simply created by the seller—are everywhere in the antique marketplace. Many flags I encounter have a story, especially sewn flags, and 95% of the time there is absolutely no way to verify the truth. “This flag lay over the dead body of General George Armstrong Custer shortly after he was killed,” for example, is a story I might hear without any documentation to prove the claim. Since I cannot in good conscience pass on this kind of hearsay to my clients, such history is simply suspect, misleading and ultimately has no effect on value. I would advise buyers to be wary of any story of this kind that is offered only verbally, without printed or written documentation, even if a respected auction house is the seller. Fakes now abound in the marketplace, so I would suggest buying from a reputable dealer who can prove to you that he/she has handled lots of flags and has a reasonably good understanding of them. Otherwise, buyer beware.

Design is always an issue that affects price. As with most American antiques, the more folksy and attractive the design, the greater the likelihood that a flag will sell. Fortunately, folk qualities exist in most flags made before 1912, so there are lots of great flags to choose from at all price levels. While linear rows of stars constituted the most common configurations, the rows seldom had equal numbers of stars, and all of the stars on a flag seldom pointed in the same direction (fig. 3). Generally speaking, the earlier the flag, the more unusual its rows and its stars.

One pattern, called a wreath or medallion, is both scarce and beautiful (figs. 4 & 5). The most common of these has two or three concentric circles of stars, accompanied by a large star in the very center, and 4 stars outside the pattern (one in each corner). The medallion configuration was basically abandoned after the Centennial era, so flags like the 45-star medallion in figure 5 (1896-1907) are very rare and highly sought after by collectors.

A rarer pattern still is called the “great star.” This is created by arranging all of the stars in the form of one large star (fig. 6). Collectors generally consider this to be the Rolls Royce of configurations, but there are still rarer designs, such as the “diamond and two pillars” seen in the Benjamin Butler flag. Sometimes, the stars were arranged to form a word or number, such as “1876” or “USA,” and such examples are extremely desirable.

Another variation of design occurs when flags have letters or pictures in the stripe area or the canton (fig. 8). Such flags were made or altered by businesses for purposes of advertising, as well as by soldiers, the military, politicians, fraternal groups, and other organizations. This practice was common until the end of the 19th century and became illegal after World War II, but that didn’t entirely prevent it from happening. Even though flags with letters or other elements added are scarce, it does not always make them easier to sell. With regard to value, the words or purpose have to be meaningful or appealing to the buyer. Sometimes, their presence can actually hinder a sale, but the value of the flag can increase significantly if the words or additional element have mass appeal.

When you have a flag with strength in all 4 categories, its value peaks. But even the most interesting early American National Flags, selling at the most prestigious auction houses, are often cheap by any measure when compared to other antiques. So, if you are looking to add a significant item to your Americana collection, consider topping it off with the most American item of them all.