The long history behind America’s shortest-lived flag

At a dinner earlier this week, I sat next to an American flag that was beautifully lit and framed. Hanging on a wall inside the historic Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House, it gave me that little feeling of patriotism you feel when you hear the beautiful words of America The Beautiful, or see members of our military saluting Old Glory.

This flag had only 46 stars. I quickly started doing the math in my head. I knew that New Mexico became a state in January of 1912 giving the flag it’s 47th star.

And for only one month, the 47-star flag existed before Arizona gained statehood in February of 1912. So, I started doing some research.

From what I could find, only 10 known 47-star flags are in existence. The flags with this unique star count were not produced in mass. Lawmakers and federal officials understood that Arizona was to be a state within days and the production of 47-star flags was limited. In fact, 47 stars was never an official star count for the American flag.

I would love to see one and run my fingers across those familiar red and white stripes. I’d like to think of those times in 1912, just over a century ago, and wonder what was on the minds of the people that were helping to form…