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  48 STAR U.S. NAVY JACK, MADE AT MARE ISLAND, CALIFORNIA, FORMER HEADQUARTERS OF THE PACIFIC FLEET, DURING WWII; DATED 1943

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): Approx. 34.5" x 47"
Flag Size (H x L): 23.5" x 36"
Description....:
United States Navy jack with 48 stars, made during WWII (U.S. involvement 1941-45) at Mare Island, California, Headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. A black stencil along the hoist on the reverse side reads as follows: "Union Jack No 9 M I Oct 1943".

Brief History of Mare Island:
Located about 23 miles northeast of San Francisco, Mare Island (actually a peninsula) became a seat of U.S. Navy defense in 1852, in the wake of California’s admission as the 31st state (1850). The site was proposed by Commodore John Drake Sloat, a prominent U.S. Navy officer who, in 1848, had embarked at Monterey and claimed the former Mexican ‘Alta California’ Territory for the United States, with the support of explorer and former U.S. Army Engineer, John Fremont, who arrived on the same day, in the employment of one America’s most powerful senators, Railroad Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. Two years later, Sloat received orders to lead a survey party in search of a logical site for the nation's first Pacific naval installation. The result was his recommendation that it be situated on the ‘island’ that lay beyond the Napa River, on the western edge of the settlement of Vallejo, which at that time served as the state’s principle seat of government. Sloat selected the location, being "free from ocean gales and from floods and freshets." On November 6th 1852, two years after California gained statehood, President Fillmore reserved Mare Island for government use by Executive Order. Acting favorably on Sloat’s report, U.S. Navy purchased Mare Island, in July of 1853, for the sum of $83,410, for use as a naval shipyard.** Two years later, on September 16th of 1854, it became the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the West Coast, with Commodore David G. Farragut serving as its first commander. The base became home to what was known as the Pacific Fleet, and remained so until the threat of Japanese expansionism caused the shift to a more advanced position at Pearl Harbor. Very active in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, it closed in 1993, following congressional approval of recommendations contained in the Base Realignment and Closure Report.

Like the British Royal Navy, American vessels flew three flags. When at anchor or moored, the jack is flown at the bow (front), the national flag or "ensign" is flown at the stern (back), and the commission pennant is flown from the at the main mast. When under way, the Jack is furled and the ensign may be kept in place or shifted to a gaff if the ship is so equipped.

The American Navy jack is a blue flag with a field of white stars. The design is the mirror image of the canton of an American national flag. In scale, the jack was meant to be the same size as the canton of the corresponding Stars & Stripes ensign with which it was flown.

This particular example is made of wool bunting that has been bound with machine stitching. The large rectangular patches in the top and bottom corners at the hoist end are called "gussets." These were included for support and are original to the flag's manufacture. The stars are made of cotton and double-appliquéd with a zigzag machine stitch. This became the primary way in which stars were applied during the 1890's and remained so until the close of WWII. There is a heavy canvas binding along the hoist with four metal grommets. These have rusted, which is an item of interest because one will seldom encounter rust on grommets made for use on flags, especially those designed to be flown at sea. Wartime shortages can probably be blamed for the selection of a corrosive metal of this sort.

While the technical name for this type of flag was a "union jack," the confusing verbiage, being the same as the nickname of the most recognizable British flag, has resulted in a common shortening of the term to simply "the jack". Interestingly enough, the British Union Jack is not the proper name for that signal either. The design commonly called the "Union Jack" is actually the "Union Flag," though practically no one uses or is even familiar with the term. The only time that it can be properly called the "Union Jack" is when it is, in fact, flown as the jack on a British Navy ship. Because the British fly various national flags: the white ensign (Royal Navy), blue ensign (non-navy ships in public service), and red ensign (merchant ships), each of which is composed of a wide field the corresponding color, with the Union Flag design as its canton, the use of the Union Flag as the jack on Royal Navy ships employs the same logic as using the blue field with stars, without the red and white striped field, as the American jack.

Early American ship paintings suggest that the various flags and pennants common to U.S. Navy ships, were sometimes flown on non-navy vessels. One may occasionally observe them in portraits of merchant ships and yachts, dressed with a complement of colorful ensigns and signals for special occasions. Because ship paintings were often commissioned, with both painter and purchaser wishing to display the craft in the most splendid manner possible, flags may be present in these images that were not regularly flown or even appropriate in the chosen setting. The same can be true in the sketched and painted views of U.S. Navy ships.

The 48 star flag became official in 1912 following the addition of New Mexico and Arizona. 48 remained the official star count throughout WWI (U.S. involvement 1917-18), WWII, and the Korean War (1950-53), until Alaska gained statehood in 1959 and the 49th star was added.

* When the Navy bought Mare Island, it belonged to one of its own, Lieutenant Commander William Pope McArthur, a U.S. Navy hydrographer, who had previously surveyed the island, and, in 1850, bought it from its Mexican owner, with a consortium of private investors. Per the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, that ended the Mexican War, legal owners of private land, in areas seized by or otherwise transferred to the United States, retained their original ownership.

Mounting: The flag has been hand-stitched to a background of cotton twill, black in color, which was washed to reduce excess dye. An acid-free agent was added to the wash to further set the dye and the fabric was heat-treated for the same purpose. The mount was then placed in a black-painted, hand-gilded and distressed Italian molding. The glazing is U.V. protective Plexiglas.

Condition: There is very minor mothing throughout, accompanied by two areas of moderate mothing adjacent to the hoist binding. There is staining from rust and other soiling and there is moderate fading of the blue wool bunting. Many of my clients prefer early flags to show their age and history of use.
Collector Level: Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts
Flag Type: Sewn flag
Star Count: 48
Earliest Date of Origin: 1943
Latest Date of Origin: 1943
State/Affiliation: California
War Association: WW 2
Price: SOLD
 

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