9 Rare 19-star United States Ensign of the USS Constitution circa 1816 Comprised of wool bunting with 19 appliquéd cotton stars and nine full and two fragmentary wool bunting stripes remaining, hand sewn throughout. approx. : H 10‘ 6 “x W 16’ 8 “ $100,000-200,000
36
note: The earliest and one of the rarest colors in the USS Constitution collection, 19 star flags were authorized for use for one year, from December 1816 to December 1817. The following year Congress passed the Third Flag Act of 1818 which stated ,” That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white: that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue field and be it further enacted, that on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect of the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.”