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| Preserving the Star-Spangled Banner: How large is the flag the flew over Fort McHenry and how many stripes does it have? |
April 13, 2006 |
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The flag originally measured 42-by-30 feet, and has 15 red-and-white stripes.
So proudly displayed: You have until September 4 of this year to see the Star Spangled Banner display before renovations at the Museum, located on the north side of the National Mall. Click either flag photo to read more about the flag`s unique story and preservation techniques.
Why 15 stripes? Early in our nation`s history, as the union grew from 13 to 15 states, the flag was changed to reflect that growth. In January 1794, an act of Congress was passed changing the flag to both 15 stars and 15 stripes. The War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner`s use at Fort McHenry were during this time. Then as the union continued to grow, leaders realized that it would be more practical to update only the field of stars. The flag reverted to just 13 stripes.
Spruced-up Spangled Banner star of Museum`s renovationSmithsonian to give Flag that inspired Anthem new room
By Carl Hartman
The Associated Press
04/13/2006
WASHINGTON — The American flag that “so proudly we hail`d,” the inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner, will be the focal point of an $85 million renovation at the National Museum of American History.
 It was on Sept. 14, 1814, that Francis Scott Key peered through the smoke surrounding Baltimore`s Fort McHenry after a 25-hour British bombardment and saw the huge American flag was still flying.
The sight inspired Key to write a poem that began:
“O say can you see, by the dawn`s early light,
“What so proudly we hail`d at the twilight`s last gleaming.”
Time took a greater toll on the wool and cotton flag measuring 30 by 42 feet than the British bombardment. In 1998, museum officials determined the tattered flag could no longer support its own weight when hung vertically.
The museum will close Sept. 5 and reopen in the summer of 2008 with a new flag room for displaying the historic 15-star banner.
About $45 million will come from federal funds and the rest from private contributions, said Brent Glass, director of the museum.
“The survival of this flag for nearly 200 years is a visible testimony to the strength and perseverance of the nation, and we hope that it will inspire many more generations in the future,” Glass said.
After a nine-year job of strengthening it, completed last fall, the flag will rest almost horizontally, the end with the blue field and white stars raised about 6 feet higher than the far end.
Visitors — the museum gets about 5 million a year — will view it through a wall of non-reflecting plate glass. Lighting will be arranged to provide something like the “dawn`s early light” noted by Key.
About $30 million has been spent on the flag project. A special laboratory was built with a big window so that more than 12 million visitors have been able to watch experts working to remove an estimated 1.7 million old stitches and material that darkened the colors, and to attach a new lightweight backing.
In addition to the new gallery for the flag, the museum will remove some marble panes to create an atrium with a skylight at its core, build new elevators and restrooms, replace its heating and air-conditioning system and improve security. |
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