This 3 x 5 ft. Fort McHenry Star Spangled Banner flag is fully printed made of heavyweight SolarGuard nylon with 15 stars and 15 stripes, finished with two rows of stitching on top and bottom and four rows on the fly end with a canvas header and brass grommets. Made in the U.S.A.
Shortly before the war of 1812, two new states were admitted to the Union, Vermont and Kentucky and Congress added a stripe and a star for each of them to our new flag. This 15 stars and 15 stripes flag flew over Fort McHenry when the British Navy attacked on the night of September 13, 1814. Francis Scott Key was aboard the ship HMS Tonnant "Thundering" negotiating the release of a captured prisoner Dr. William Beanes. Key's and Beanes were forced to stay on board with the British until the attack on Baltimore was over.
All through the night he watched the gallant defense of Fort McHenry and at the first sight of dawn he saw that the American flag was still proudly waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. Inspired by what key's saw he began jotting down verses on the back of a letter he was carrying. Once back in Baltimore he finish his poem about his experience, "Defense of Fort McHenry" which became the words to our National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner".
Originally, historians said the oversized Star Spangled Banner Flag was raised to taunt the British. However, that is not the case. The oversized flag was used every morning for reveille, as was the case on the morning of September 14, 1814.
It was under this flag which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry won the battle of Lake Erie and General Andrew Jackson signaled victory over the British Regulars under Sir Edward Pakenham at the Battle of New Orleans. The restored flag now hangs in the Smithsonian. Click Here
