First All-United States 'Old Glory'

"Old Glory" itself, the first American flag to be made with American-manufactured bunting, is the treasured possession of A. N. Goldsmith of Los Angeles. Approved by Abraham Lincoln three days before his assassination, the flag has 13 stripes of red and white and 37 stars, all but 10 of which are arranged in a diamond-shaped pattern on the field of blue. It is the only flag of this type in existence. It measures 12 feet by 6. Holding it are Mary Long (left), and Bettye Knapp.

From The Buchannan News [Buchannan, Virginia], 1938.

My interpretation of the flag:

The stars on the left and the right represent the North and the South of the just concluded Civil War. On each side, the star which is isolated between the others represents the two presidents: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. The two sides also represent the powerful American Capitalist Interests of the period: Bankers and manufacturers of the North, and slave-owning Plantation owners of the South. The diamond represents The People of the country who are crushed between the Capitalists' interest in protecting "private property" and accumulated wealth. The nine stars in the center of the diamond represent the countless number of The People.

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