The collection of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House consists of approximately 1,100 objects, works on paper, and furnishings. The collection also includes institutional archives and photographic materials. The scope of the collection, as outlined as follows:
- American Art (1793 – 1820)
- American Furnishing from the Federal Period (1793 – 1820)
- Artifacts from the War of 1812
- Historic American Flags
- Star-Spangled Banner ephemera
Highlights of the collection include:
- Portrait of Col. Benjamin Flower painted by Charles Wilson Peale. Currently on 5-year loan to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia
- Snare Drum carried by Henry Lightner at Ft. McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore
- Receipt for the Star-Spangled Banner flag
- Family Bible from the Flower-Young-Pickersgill family
- Seven fragments of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag
- Pongee-style silk flag carried at the Battle of North Point
- Over 15,000 unique items found during archaeological surveys in 1996 and 1998
Online Collections
In 2016, the Flag House partnered with Digital Maryland to offer increased access to the museum’s collection. Capsule collections are now available to view online. As of 2018, the Flag House is working to digitize two new capsule collections and a general Flag House collection. Check back soon to access the Pannell Family Letters Collection, WWI Poster Collection, and general Flag House and Star-Spangled Banner Ephemera Collection.
To view current digitized capsule collections click below.
Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection
Collection Overview: The Flag House collection spans more than 150 years of material culture, War of 1812 correspondence, Baltimore history, and Star-Spangled Banner-related artifacts. The Flag House Association’s first trustees began collecting the 18th and 19th-century decorative arts, Young-Pickersgill family artifacts, and Star-Spangled Banner anniversary celebration ephemera to furnish and exhibit in the historic Flag House for the public opening of the house in 1928. The first objects entered the collection as early as 1927. Today the collection represents more than seventy years of acquisitions. This digitized collection is meant to give increased access to the Flag House’s general collection and rarely exhibited objects.
Collection Overview: The Colonial Letters Collection consists of five letters written between 1778 and 1800 that provide a tapestry displaying interconnections between historical figures during the American Revolution and their relation to the War of 1812 and the Star-Spangled Banner.
Star-Spangled Banner Replica Collection
Collection Overview: The Star-Spangled Banner Flag Replica Collection provides a history of the work that went into creating this replica of the flag that was flown over Fort McHenry after its bombardment on September 14, 1814, during the Battle of Baltimore. The flag replica, started in 1963 and completed in 1964 under the auspices of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, was destined for display at the Maryland pavilion of the New York World’s Fair of 1964-1965. The collection contains both letters leading to the production of the hand-sewn flag replica as well as an American Legion participant’s scrapbook of the work done on the flag replica, including lists of names of participants, photographs, newspaper clippings, and its displays away from the Fair.
Collection Overview: This collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Letter Collection contains letters, bills of receipt, promissory notes, and other documents written between 1796 and 1899 relating to the Pannell family of Baltimore, Maryland.