Great Garrison Flag

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The Great Garrison Flag is the oversized American Flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The flag inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star Spangled Banner," which would later become the national anthem of the United States.

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[edit] History

In Baltimore's preparation for an expected attack on the city, Fort McHenry was made ready to defend the city's harbor. When Major George Armistead expressed desire for a very large flag to fly over the fort, General John S. Stricker and Commodore Joshua Barney placed an order with Mary Pickersgill, a prominent Baltimorean flagmaker, for two oversized American Flags. The larger of the two flags would be the Great Garrison Flag, the largest battle flag ever flown.[1] (The smaller of the two flags would be the Storm Flag.)

The Garrison Flag was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry had held. This revelation was famously captured in poetry by American Lawmaker and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key. Being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, Key observed the battle from afar. When he saw the Garrison Flag still flying at dawn of the morning of the 14th, he composed a poem he originally titled "Defiance of Ft. McHenry." The poem would be put to music as the "The Star Spangled Banner, and a portion of it would later be adopted as the United States National Anthem.

The flag remained in the possession of Major Armistead, who was promoted to brevet lieutenant, for some time. Today it is housed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.. Since its arrival at the Smithsonian, the Garrison Flag has undergone multiple restoration efforts.[2]

[edit] Design and Dimensions

Pickersgill stitched the flag (with her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured servant) from a combination of cotton and dyed English wool bunting. The flag actually has fifteen horizontal red and white stripes, as well as 15 white stars in the blue field. The two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress's Second Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky's entrance into the Union. The stars are arranged in diagonal rows, with five horizontal rows of stars, offset, each containing three stars.

The flag originally measured approximately 30 feet by 42 feet, though after the damage it received during battle, it now measures only 30 feet by 34 feet. Each of the fifteen stripes are two feet in height, and each of the stars (one of which was blown off the flag completely) measure about two feet in diameter.


[edit] Further reading

  • Lonn Taylor (2000). The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. 
  • Scott S. Sheads (1989). Fort McHenry. Sequoia Press. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Great Garrison Flag. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ The Star Spangled Banner and the War of 1812. Smithsonian Institute.