Visiting Fort McHenry Part 2: The Flag
Another important part of this history is the story of the flag, the different flag sizes, and new flags flying at the fort.
The Star-Spangled Banner flag of Francis Scott Key’s song was created during the people of Baltimore’s preparations to defend their city.
Major George Armistead, commander at Fort McHenry, commissioned the flag a year before the British attack. Armistead was a seasoned soldier who had participated in the American capture of Fort George on the Niagara River in 1813. He was aware of Fort McHenry’s vital strategic and symbolic importance, so he asked for a flag so large “that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance.”
In the summer of 1813 a local seamstress, Mary Young Pickersgill, received the commission to make an “American ensign” measuring 30 x 42 feet and using “finest quality bunting.” It was a major undertaking; her daughter, nieces, and possibly an enslaved servant, helped Mary. The flag was so large that they had to assemble it on the floor of a brewery near Mary’s workshop.
Her total fee of $574.44 was a very large sum of money at that time and included the production of a smaller flag, which may have been the “storm flag” flown during the night of the British bombardment in 1814. The huge flag was only hoisted early the next morning after the rain ended, as a signal that the fort was still standing. (I will write later about visiting the house where Mary Pickersgill lived, the so-called Flag House.
An information board titled “O’er the Ramparts We Watch” tells us Which Flag Flies Today. It says, “The fort’s walls are called ramparts. An American flag flies over Fort McHenry 24 hours a day by Presidential Proclamation. The size of the flag varies. On clear days with the right amount of wind, a full-size replica of the Star-Spangled Banner measuring 30 x 42 feet with 15 stars and 15 stripes waves. The fort also flies smaller versions of this flag. On rainy days and at night, a small, modern 50-star American flag is flown.
In 1948, a proclamation issued by President Harry S. Truman stated that “as a perpetual
symbol of our patriotism, the flag of the United States shall hereafter be displayed at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine at all times during the day and night, except when the weather is inclement.” At night the flag is illuminated by lights powered by solar panels.”
The original 30 x 42 feet flag is now in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. However, because of its delicate nature, it is kept under very low light and no photography is possible. But, we did go and see it.
Also linked to American flags: as states were added to the United States so too were stars added to the flag. In 1818, Congress proclaimed that one star for each new state would be added on the 4th of July following the state’s admission to the union and there would be thirteen stripes representing the thirteen original colonies.
So, new flags were produced and each time that flag was first flown here at Fort McHenry.
As we walked back to catch the bus, we noted
metal plaques set into the sidewalk along the edge of the entrance road, with the names of US states. We believe that there is one for each state, commemorating when the state entered the union. We couldn’t find them all, but did find Illinois!
Next is Part 3 on the History of the Fort.
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