Storm Flag at Fort McHenry
by Bill Swartwout
Title
Storm Flag at Fort McHenry
Artist
Bill Swartwout
Medium
Photograph - Color Photographs
Description
This "Storm Flag" flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, is a replica of the one that flew over the fort during the Battle of Fort McHenry. That battle was fought right here on the Patapsco River during the night of September 13/14, 1814, near the end of the War of 1812.
When the sun rose the morning after the bombardment, Major Armistead ordered the fort's small (25' x 17') storm flag lowered and replaced with the standard garrison flag measuring 42 feet by 30 feet. Sewn by local seamstress Mary Pickersgill, the flag was clearly visible to all of the ships in the river.
When Francis Scott Key, who was being detained aboard a British war ship, saw the flag "by the dawn's early light" he became inspired to write the poem that eventually became the National Anthem of the United States of America.
Note that this flag has 15 stars and 15 stripes and not the 50 stars and 13 stripes we are used to seeing on American Flags today. Wouldn't you just love to have a replica of such a piece of history on display in your home or office? Order a print today. Actually this would look wonderful as a metal print or on a stretched canvas.
Uploaded
November 7th, 2014
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