The Star Spangled Banner
 15 Star - 15 Stripe |
The Star-Spangled Banner Flag or the Great Garrison Flag is the garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the naval portion of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Seeing the flag during the battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner", which would later become the national anthem of the United States.
History
In Baltimore's preparation for an expected attack on the city, Fort McHenry was made ready to defend the city's harbor. When Major George Armistead expressed desire for a very large flag to fly over the fort, General John S. Stricker and Commodore Joshua Barney placed an order with a prominent Baltimorean flagmaker for two oversized American Flags. The larger of the two flags would be the Great Garrison Flag, the largest battle flag ever flown at the time.[1] The smaller of the two flags would be the Storm Flag, to be more durable and less prone to fouling in inclement weather.
Although it is commonly thought to have been made by Betsy Ross,[2] it was actually sewn by local flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill under a government commission in 1813 at a cost of $405.90.[3] George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry, specified "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance".[4][5]
Design
Pickersgill stitched the flag (with her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured servant) from a combination of cotton and dyed English wool bunting. The flag actually has fifteen horizontal red and white stripes, as well as 15 white stars in the blue field. The two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress's Second Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky's entrance into the Union. The stars are arranged in diagonal rows, with five horizontal rows of stars, offset, each containing three stars. At the time, the practice of adding stripes (in addition to stars) with the induction of a new state had not yet been discontinued.
The flag originally measured approximately 30 feet by 42 feet, though after the damage it received during battle, it now measures only 30 feet by 34 feet. Each of the fifteen stripes are two feet in height, and each of the stars (one of which was blown off the flag completely) measure about two feet in diameter.
The Armistead family occasionally gave away pieces of the flag to persons it considered deserving. The flag currently has only 14 stars - the whereabouts of the fifteenth star are unknown.[6]
Battle
The Flag was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and continuous shelling occurred for 25 hours under heavy rain. When the British ships were unable to pass the fort and penetrate the harbor, the attack was ended, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry remained in American hands. This revelation was famously captured in poetry by Key, an American Lawmaker and then-amateur poet. Being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, Key observed the battle from afar. When he saw the Garrison Flag still flying at dawn of the morning of the 14th, he composed a poem he originally titled Defiance of Ft. McHenry (though some accounts hold Defence of Fort McHenry). The poem would be put to the music of a common tune, retitled The Star-Spangled Banner, and a portion of it would later be adopted as the United States National Anthem. Since its arrival at the Smithsonian, the flag has undergone multiple restoration efforts.
Smithsonian
The flag that flew during that episode in history became a significant artifact. It remained in the possession of Major Armistead, who was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel, for some time. Today it is permanently housed in the National Museum of American History, one of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The flag was given to the museum in 1912, and has undergone multiple restoration efforts[7] after being originally restored by Amelia Fowler in 1914. Due to environmental and light damage a four phase restoration project began in May 1999. In the first phase, the team removed the linen support backing that was attached to the flag during the 1914 restoration. The second phase consisted of the most comprehensive, detailed examination of the condition and construction of the Star-Spangled Banner to date, which provided critical information for later work. This included scientific studies with infrared spectrometry, electron microscopy, mechanical testing, and determination of amino acid content by a New Zealand scientist, and infrared imaging by a NASA scientist.[8] Planning and executing a cleaning treatment for the flag following scientific analysis was the third phase. In the fourth and final phase of the project, curators, scientists and conservators developed a long-term preservation plan. The flag is now on display in a special exhibit that allows it to lie at a slight angle in dim light following the reopening the National Museum of American History on November 21, 2008.[9][10]
See also
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