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How to Buy an Antique Flag

If your passion runs toward folk art, you'll love collecting American flags with their creative star configurations and patriotic symbols.

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions
  1. Step 1

    Look for antique shows advertising Americana or political memorabilia. You'll find American flags as well as state flags.

  2. Step 2

    Be familiar with the two types of flags. Large sewn flags (19th-century versions are at least 8 feet or 2.4 m) were used for extended periods of time, whether outside government offices or on ships. These were usually made of wool, muslin, cotton or a blend. Cotton or silk parade flags are small (some fit in the palm of your hand) and had a short-term use for parades or rallies.

  3. Step 3

    Check construction. If a flag is machine-sewn (look for perfectly uniform stitches), it is likely no older than 1850 (about the time the sewing machine arrived in homes). From 1850 to 1900, stripes were often machine-sewn, but stars were done by hand. After 1900, almost no hand-stitching is evident on flags.

  4. Step 4

    Gaze at the stars. Before 1912, there were no rules for putting stars on the canton (top inner quarter of flag), so earlier versions sometimes have the stars in a circle or another pattern, or stars with the image of an eagle.

Tips & Warnings
  • Grommets are the metal rings on the edge of a flag, used to run rope through. They may seem like a modern invention, but flags as far back as the Civil War featured metal grommets.
  • Sewn flags can be purchased for between $350 and $35,000, depending on age, condition and rarity. Parade flags sell for between $200 and $7,500.
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