Description

36 Star Civil War Swallowtail Flag / SOLD

36 Star Civil War Swallowtail Flag. Authentic antique American Flag with 36 Stars. Dates to the Civil War time period. The 36th State was voted into the Union by Congress on October 31st 1864 and became a official flag on the following July 4th as all states do. However, everyone at the time knew and was awaiting Congress to add the 36th State  since the addition of the 35th State was in 1863. So very few 35 Star Flags were made and ordered by the army and the government. Flag makers stated making 36 star flags. So this flag could date from 1863 to1867 when the 37th State was added. The flag is a unusual size 22″x42″ and is made of a starched linen type of material which was used in the day. It appears that it was attached to a pole at one time and was cut in the swallowtail shape. This was done mostly by the military when a flag was used when riding a horse, the swallowtail performed better than a rectangle shaped flag when riding at a running speed in the wind.  So the only real assumption is that this was used by the army as a possible parade/show flag or cavalry flag.

Museum framing with UV acrylic

Comes with our Certificate of Authenticity, Selling flags since 1990.