Thirteen-Star Flags: Keys to Identification

Abstract

The first time I had reason to question the date of a thirteen-star flag was in 1947. The one examined was stitched by machine and, because of that, obviously was not an eighteenth-century flag. The stars were arranged in a 3-2-3-2-3 arrangement. Knowing very little about documenting flags at that time, I questioned the then curator of history, Theodore T. Belote, whether a flag could be dated by the star arrangement. In discussing the more popular arrangements, Mr. Belote stated that the “thirteen-star flag was used as a small boat ensign from 1795 to about 1916.” Currently, in trying to document his statement for publication, I found that this was one of those facts that is “known,” but difficult to establish positively. In 1970, Captain Edmund A. Crenshaw, Jr., vice president of the Germantown Historical Society and curator of its museum in Philadelphia, wrote in answer to my query: “That type 'thirteen-star flag' was used for smaller vessels, torpedo boats, submarines and ships boats as far back as I can remember.” In his letter of December 3, 1970, when Captain Cranshaw was seventy-nine years old, he continued, “... it was stopped by Franklin Roosevelt for some reason.” Since Franklin Roosevelt was assistant secretary of the navy in 1916, the year may be fairly accurate; however, the observation of Dr. Harold Langley, present curator of naval history in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of History and Technology, is that individual captains may have continued to use the thirteen-star flag. Dr. Langley also pointed out that manufacturers who had filled navy contracts may have continued to manufacture these flags after 1916. The United States Navy, however, considers that officially it has followed each Flag Act using the number of stars representing the number of states in the Union, and cites a regulation issued in 1890 reaffirming this. Nevertheless, there is an Executive Order (number 1637) issued by President William Howard Taft and dated October 29, 1912, which states: Boat Flags: In order that the identity of the stars in flags when carried by small boats belonging to the Government may be preserved, the custom holding in the Navy for many years, of thirteen (13) stars for boat flags, is hereby approved. This confirms that the thirteen-star flag was in use through 1912 and probably longer.