Four Flag Fragments from U.S. Navy War of 1812 Victories
This framed display contains four fragments of flags captured during American naval victories in the War of 1812. Flags captured from enemy vessels were often cut up and distributed or sold in as souvenirs. These fragments were collected, pasted onto this display, and likely added as a page in a scrapbook. Though the specific origin of the display is unknown, examinations of the cloth fragments match the cloth used in naval flags during the war. The descriptions under each fragment are:
- Top left: “A piece of the flag / of the ‘Levant’ capt. / by the ‘Constitution’ / in the ‘War of 1812.’”
- Top right: “A piece of the / ‘Dont give up the ship’ / flag captured on / ‘Lake Erie,’ / 1812 [sic].’”
- Bottom left: “A piece of the flag of the / ‘Guerriere,’ captured by the / ‘Constitution’ in the / ‘War of 1812.’”
- Bottom right: “A piece of the flag / of the ‘Siam’ [sic Cyane] capt / by the ‘Constitution’ / in the ‘War of 1812.’”
Date Created
1812-1815
Medium
Paper, Ink, Linen, Cardboard, Glue
Dimensions
[H]11 in. [W]8 3/4 in.
Catalog Number
2228.1
Credit Line
USS Constitution Museum Collection.
Terms of Use
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
