Thirty-Five Star Civil War Era American Flag.

Item Number: 100102

Rare hand-stitched 35-star American flag produced in the final years of the Civil War. The American flag bearing 35 stars was in use between July 4th 1863 and July 3rd 1865, when the state of West Virginia was admitted as the 35th state in the Union. In very good condition. The flag measures 136 inches by 68 inches.

One of the nation's most widely recognized symbols, the flag of the United States of America has been officially modified a total of 26 times since its first appearance in 1777. The flag's initial design, bearing thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, has been credited to several historic figures including naval flag designer Francis Hopkinson, Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross, and flagmaker Rebecca Young. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: "Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." Tradition holds that the new flag was first hoisted on June 14th, 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment, the date is now celebrated as Flag Day.