Jeff Bridgman Antique Flags
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  CIVIL WAR CAMP COLORS, 35 STARS, 1863-1865, PRESS-DYED ON WOOL BUNTING, EXTREMELY RARE

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 31.25" x 38.25"
Flag Size (H x L): 18.5" x 25.75"
Description....:
CIVIL WAR CAMP COLORS, 35 STARS, 1863-1865, PRESS-DYED ON WOOL BUNTING, EXTREMELY RARE:

Civil War period, Union Army camp colors in Stars & Stripes format are extremely rare in the antiques marketplace. I have only seen a tiny handful of examples. These small flags, generally the smallest used for military purposes, stood outside tents to mark Union encampments. Their staffs were rather massive by contrast. Some were thick, tapered at both ends, and stood about eight feet in height. The staff either fit completely through a wide sleeve of the flag along its hoist end or the wide hoist end was simply wrapped around the staff and tacked in and nailed in place with flat-headed upholstery tacks.

Camp colors are a great addition to any flag collection because of their tremendous, small, displayable size, their great rarity. Civil War examples are a particularly great find because of the importance of the event in American history.

The stars on this 35 star example are arranged in 5 justified rows of 7. Note how all are canted at a slight angle, with a single point in the 1:00 position. West Virginia was admitted into the Union as the 35th state on June 20th, 1863, a few days before the battle of Gettysburg. The 35th star was officially added on July 4th, and the flag was used during the closing years of the war. Production would have generally ceased one year later, however, with the addition of the 36th state.

A small number of camp colors of this type, with the precise same manner of construction and similarly canted stars, are held in the collection of the New York State Military Museum. These flags belonged to New York State units, though it is quite likely that these commercially-produced colors were employed by both volunteer and militia units in other states.

Construction: Press-dyed wool bunting with a treadle-sewn binding at both the hoist and fly ends.

Mounting: The flag has been hand-stitched to 100% natural fabric for support throughout. It was then hand-stitched to a background of 100% hemp fabric. Strips of red silk taffeta were placed behind the red stripes to strengthen their color against the lighter colored support fabric. The flag was then placed in a hand-gilded and distressed Italian molding with a substantial, wide, convex profile. The front is u.v. protective plexiglas.

Condition: There is scattered mothing throughout, accompanied by minor fabric loss at the bottom hoist-end corner. Many of my clients prefer early flags to show their age gracefully, like this example.
Collector Level: Advanced Collectors and the Person with Everything
Flag Type: Sewn flag
Star Count: 35
Earliest Date of Origin: 1863
Latest Date of Origin: 1865
State/Affiliation: West Virginia
War Association: 1861-1865 Civil War
Price: SOLD
 

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