Cowpens flag

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Digital reproduction of the Cowpens Flag
Archibald MacNeal Willard features the Cowpens flag (not the Betsy Ross design, which is similar).[1]

The Cowpens flag, or

, the white stars are arranged in a circle on a blue field; but the circle consists of just 12 stars, with the 13th star in the center.

Description

This version of the US flag was said to have been carried by William Batchelor

Lafayette when he visited Maryland in 1824.[4]

The Batchelor Flag was on display in the

Maryland Statehouse flag room until the 1980s, when older flags were moved to storage for preservation. It is currently held at the Maryland Archives. A 1970s study conducted by the Maryland State Archivist and the Smithsonian Institution, however, concluded that the preserved flag was of 19th-century origin.[3]
Among the reasons for this conclusion are:

A Smithsonian publication acknowledges that the Cowpens design may date to the American Revolution, but the actual flag held at Maryland dates no earlier than 1843.[6]

The

flag of Easton, Pennsylvania
reverses the 3rd Maryland design, with the star wreath on the field of the flag, and the 13 red and white stripes in the canton.

The star pattern was popular enough to see continued use in 15-star flags as the nation began to grow. A surviving military commission signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1808 shows a 15-star flag and a 15-star Navy jack, both using the 3rd Maryland star arrangement (14 star circle with the 15th star in the center).[7]

The crest of the Navy cruiser USS Cowpens (CG-63) features the 3rd Maryland star pattern in the foreground, as well as two Cowpens flags in the background.

Notes

  1. .
  2. ^ This claim was made by William's son, Joshua Batchelor, and is disputed. See "Joshua F. Batchelor". Archives of Maryland. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b Leepson, 28
  4. ^ a b Furlong, 133
  5. ^ Mastai, pg 39, offers the possibility that the 3rd Maryland flag was a regimental banner, not a national flag.
  6. ^ Cooper, 28
  7. ^ Mastai, 44

Sources

External links