Gallery of the Republic Hand-Made 15-Star Star Spangled Banner Replica, 198/950

September 14, 1814. Dawn over the Patapsco River. Francis Scott Key, detained overnight on a British vessel, watched the smoke clear over Fort McHenry and saw it still standing — the garrison flag, thirty feet by forty-two, still flying. Shot-torn, rain-soaked, but there. He pulled an old letter from his pocket and began to write. The poem ran in the Baltimore Patriot five days later. It would take another 117 years for Congress to make it the national anthem. The flag that inspired it can still be seen at the Smithsonian. What you're bidding on is a hand-made replica of that flag — one of 950 produced in 1987 by The Gallery of the Republic of Austin, Texas.

The flag is cotton, fifteen stars and fifteen stripes — the count that held from 1795, when Vermont and Kentucky joined the union, through the War of 1812. The burlap hoist sleeve anchors the left edge. The fly end is deliberately and skillfully distressed: frayed threads, ragged cuts, two simulated shot holes piercing the field at the canton-to-stripe boundary. This is not damage. It is the original design — an intentional recreation of what the actual Fort McHenry flag looked like the morning Key saw it. Shadowbox-mounted on gray linen behind glass in a stepped wood frame, with a brass-tone plate engraved "The Star Spangled Banner." The companion piece is a smaller framed text panel narrating the 1814 bombardment and Key's composition. Both frames are maker marked.

The flag that flew over Fort McHenry on the night of September 13–14, 1814, was a 15-star, 15-stripe garrison flag — the configuration mandated by the Flag Act of 1794 when Vermont and Kentucky joined the original thirteen states. It was sewn by Mary Pickersgill and her daughter, commissioned specifically for the fort. The British naval bombardment — part of the broader War of 1812 — lasted 25 hours. Key, aboard a British vessel negotiating a prisoner exchange, witnessed the attack and its aftermath. His poem, set to the tune of the English drinking song "Anacreon in Heaven," was arranged into the melody Americans recognize today by the organist of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Baltimore. Congress designated it the official national anthem on March 3, 1931. The original flag, which Pickersgill stitched large enough to be seen from a great distance, is now conserved and on permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

As the United States moves toward the 250th anniversary of its founding in 2026, interest in patriotic Americana — particularly pieces tied to the nation's defining moments — is intensifying across the collector market. This limited-edition replica, produced in a run of only 950 by a Texas publisher in 1987, occupies an interesting middle position: too recent and too documented to be confused with an antique, but well-made enough — hand-sewn cotton, intentional distressing, proper hoist construction — to hold its own as a display piece with real historical grounding. It presents beautifully. The two-frame ensemble tells the complete story: the flag, the bombardment, and the poem. For a collector focused on American history, a patriotic household, or a buyer assembling a themed display for the Semiquincentennial, this is a presentation-ready piece that needs nothing added to it.

CONDITION

Good. Interior glass surface is dirty; frame exterior shows scuffing consistent with age and handling. The frayed fly end, ragged edges, and two pierced shot holes in the field are intentional original design elements replicating the battle-worn appearance of the Fort McHenry original — not condition flaws.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Flag Frame Overall: 18 3/8" H × 24 5/8" W × 2 1/8" D
• Flag Visible: 16" H × 22 1/2" W
• Script Frame Overall: 9 1/4" H × 11 1/4" W × 3/4" D
• Script Visible: 5" H × 7" W
• Construction: Cotton flag, burlap hoist sleeve, wood frames, glass
• Stars / Stripes: 15 / 15 (1795–1818 flag configuration)
• Edition: 198 of 950
• Publisher: The Gallery of the Republic, Austin, TX
• Copyright: 1987
• Both frames: Maker marked
• Total Pieces: 2 (flag shadowbox + companion script panel)