According to family folklore, this fabric star was torn from a flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812’s Battle of Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The piece arrived with a handwritten note, penned on century-old Bailey, Banks & Biddle stationery, asserting that the family’s ancestor took the star as a battlefield souvenir. The story is dramatic, but family folklore often mixes memory, myth and a kernel of truth. So we only sold it as an “Attribution.”
Our research indicated that the garrison flag at Fort McHenry was massive — 30 by 42 feet. Its stars were enormous at 24 inches across. The star in this family’s possession measured only 8 inches, ruling it out as having come from the garrison flag now housed at the Smithsonian.
But there’s more to the story.
We found records that confirmed there was a second flag — a smaller “storm flag” for use in bad weather. That flag has been missing for over a century, and collectors, museums and historians have long speculated about its fate.
Several details make this smaller flag the far more plausible source. First, the fabric and weave of this remnant match period textiles used in the famous garrison flag. Second, the family’s handwritten note from the 1870s mentions that “in the chaos afterward, the men descended on the site ripping things apart to keep souvenirs and found a box with a flag in it.” Such behavior was not unusual in 19th-century battles. Third, and most importantly, the star’s size matched.
For those reasons, we could only attribute it to the smaller yet historically significant storm flag that flew over Fort McHenry. The bidders seemed to agree. This small remnant, with no real proof, fetched just under $10,000.
If you have old militaria, medals and especially flags from pre-1870 America or the Confederacy, or Japan or other countries, give us a call.
