48 star flag. Some qustions.

[Sjef]

I am planning to acquire a 48 star American flag at some point to give my WWII USAAF collection some colour.

How would I be able to know if a certain flag is produced during or prior to WWII?

And would any period produced flag go with a military collection, or were there specific makers that produced flags for the military?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Hitman_one]

I have a 48 star flag in my collection with brass grommets which i understand is a postwar feature.The bars are stitched seperately but the stars are printed.All things, i am told, that point to postwar production.

I have read somewhare that ww2 period flags have steel grommets.

In my opinion it fits in well with my collection.

[Sabrejet]

My WW2 flags have printed details along their edge bindings Jeroen...for example "VICTORY FLAG CO." They are quite heavy being made of fine wool (?) and are of multi-piece construction with the stars being individually applied...though I have seen printed versions too. For use as photographic backdrops and in displays (to preserve the originals) I bought some "modern" 48 star flags off an ebayUK supplier. They are printed nylon, cost the equivalent of about €7 and look great in photographs!

 

Ian

[Indexred]

Over the years, I have encountered several WWII casket flags. They’re always 5 x 9.5 feet and manufactured by the Valley Forge Flag Company. These were used on the caskets of U.S. war dead repatriated to the States during the 1947-1949 time period. Sometimes you’ll find wax drippings on a flag, wax from a candle that burned next to the casket. The flag pictured below had such wax drippings. Some picker pulled it out of an estate sale but never bothered to ask the name of the deceased serviceman. That information is now lost to history. Sad.

[Sjef]

Thanks for the info so far guys!

 

So the Valley Forge Flag Company flags Indexred is talking about would probably be made just after WWII?

[Indexred]

Yes, the caskets were made just after WWII. Valley Forge no doubt had big contracts with the War and Navy Departments. I also suspect that Valley Forge made flags during the conflict. Some of these may have had substitute metals used for the grommets when brass was in short supply during the middle years of the war. - Bill

[Indexred]

Sorry ... I meant to say casket flags not caskets.

[NebrPatch]

Valley Forge Co. is still in business and printed flags have been made for over 100 yrs, so those two factors alone can't be used to date flags.

 

Stay away from synthetic materials such as nylon or polyester, look for cotton or wool. I do like the steel grommet theory, it makes sense.

[Sjef]

Thanks for the additional info.

 

The steel grommet theory does indeed make sense, but.....

 

The following text is from a website on US flags http://www.vexman.net/physical.htm

.....

Metal grommets were first introduced during the Civil War, but did not become common until about the Centennial (1876). Early metal grommets were made of steel but by 1880 or so, brass was much more common. Except for the shortage of brass during World War II (1942-44) almost all metal grommets on flags after about 1890 were brass.....

 

And a thread on a US flag forum suggests that at least some of the flags produced in WWII had brass grommets. http://www.usa-flag-...flag-10309.html

 

So I guess if a 48 star flag has steel grommets it is presumably (but not necessarily) produced somewhere between early 1942 and late 1944. If it has brass grommets it is presumably (but not necessarily) produced prior to 1942 or after 1944.

[JDR]

Greetings!

 

Hope I am not out of place here. I just started a separate thread on a local flag which was brought to my attention today.
 

Looking for more information, if anyone has any input please hit me up!

 

 

Best Regards,

-J.D