Description

Antique Grand Union Flag

Antique Grand Union Flag. Circa 1876 Centennial time period. Example of the first flag that flew over the Thirteen Colonies known as the United States. It was a combination of the British Flag and 13 stripes representing the thirteen Colonies. It was first flown by ships of the American Colonial Fleet on the Delaware River. On December 3, 1775 it was raised aboard Capt. Esek Hopkin’s flagship Alfred by John Paul Jones, then a navy lieutenant. Later the flag was raised on the liberty pole at Prospect Hill, Boston, which was near George Washington’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA. It was the unofficial national flag on July 4, 1776, Our first Independence Day. It remained the unofficial national flag and ensign of the American Navy until June 14, 1777 when the Continental Congress authorized the Stars and Stripes.

We use modern museum framing technology to frame our antique flags. Our in house professional framers use only conservation framing methods used by museums. We only use acid free and gas free materials along with safe ultra clear UV acrylic. Our flags are museum mounted using safe acid free hinges, which does not damage the flag in any way like sewing flags down does. The hinge mounting is completely reversible which is the prime focus to achieve in conservation framing.

Sewing a flag down as some framers and company’s do is very costly to the customer and can damage the flag.  Sewing flags down is an out of date, old process that can and usually does damage the flag over time.  In some cases sewing the flag down can cause irreparable damage and ruin your investment in the flag you purchased.

This is what happened to the Old Glory Flag in the Smithsonian.  The Smithsonian conservators spent millions of dollars to repair and reverse the damage to the flag caused by sewing the historical flag down.  Framers have used the sewing method in the past and some do now because they do not know any better and are stuck with a failed technology and the main reason is they make much more money from the customer by charging huge fees to sew a flag down. Time has proved sewing a flag down is damaging to the flag and very costly to the customer.  Our mounting process is safe, cost effective and preserves the antique flag for generations to come.