tdurbinmas

Thanks Jerry. A few of these came from Ben Weed. He found them decades ago before collecting was so widespread. The others have been my own searching and hunting. The political collectors seem more interested in the rayon fringed flags and limo flags. The examples I have were some of the more expensive ones for sure! I’m still looking for a few things to really round out the collection. Some rare birds such as late 1800’s Horstmann printed POTUS flags and an affordable 50 star 1960’s limo flag. I was able to finish my basement and incorporate my den and a flag room. Currently the fam

The huge flags are old naval President's flags flown on ships back in the day. Nowadays they use a No 6 size. Roughly 4’x6’ no matter the size of the ship. In the early 1900’s these large flags were a common sight at the podium during Presidential inaugurations.

Thanks! That first flag is really radical. It’s hard to believe silk flags that old still exist. I picked a very interesting area of collecting.

Model 1902 US Navy Presidential flag. Size No 1. Approximately 10’ x 15’

Really nice No 11 ensign. Hopefully the crew member history works out.

Thanks. You’re right....I bet that’s a very expensive flag when bought new. The No 2 Jack would be paired with a No 1 ensign. The Jack is supposed to be the size of the canton of the ensign it is flown with. The No 2 Jack would be the right size for a No 1 ensign. Etc.

That seller remeasured the flag for me and it is a No 2 Union Jack. I went ahead and made the purchase on that. The number two is the largest jack the Navy uses according to their chart. Thanks for the tip! That one had slipped through my search filters

You’re right. It is crazy we made enemy flags. I would love to hear a former navy signalman chime in and tell some flag locker stories. It’s my understanding each ship carried a full complement of US ensigns and Jacks, foreign port courtesy flags, rank and positional flags and the basic signal flags. My guess is that many if not most Japanese and Nazi flags were unceremoniously disposed of when the war started? There don’t seem to be many surviving examples. At the 2019 Max show in Sharonville Pennsylvania one of the vendors had a large sewn and appliquéd imperial German flag. I regr

Thanks! It’s a very special flag. I like that it’s American made. 🇺🇸

I asked that seller to confirm the measurements. The navy doesn’t have an 8’x16’ Jack. It does look like a No 2 Jack which measures 10’x14’. Anyway, it’s a huge Jack!!!

Thanks Alan! I was a little surprised at the final price too. I wish it were dated but Horstmann didn’t seem to do that. The quality of Horstmanns screen printing is top notch. The details are very clear. According to Ben Weeds Kriegsflagge chart the early IKF is so rare he had only seen one example in his 50+ year collecting career. reportedly this flag was sold in the estate of a German veterans family but the back story is very obscure. Supposedly he bought the flag in the US sometime after ww1 and took it home.

Ben Weed’ chart of IKF and RKF flags. On Ben’s chart I have the early IKF, a 1st Third Reich RKF and an American Mare Island made and Pola (Italian) 1st Swastika pattern RKF. Although my main collecting interest is American military flags I have been fortunate to find some very cool foreign flags.

I believe this is a very rare pre-WW1 and Possibly pre-1890 early Imperial Kriegs flag. I wish my friend Ben Weed was here to see this wonderful old flag. Anyone with commentary PLEASE share! I appreciate it. This flag was made by Horstmann and is not dated. The quality of the print screening is excellent. The material is wool linen. I assume the flag was made as a US Navy courtesy flag used by our ships visiting German ports? See my earlier post of my Mare Island 1st pattern Nazi RKF. These flags are technically US militaria!

I hear that! The canton on the number 1 is about that size. Stars are 14” tall.

🇺🇸 and the weight of a modern No 1 ensign is 35 pounds. That’s a lot of material!