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

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. 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. 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.