Flag of Fort Sumter (USA 1861)

With Oregon's accession in 1859 the Union counted 33 states, and the flag carried as many stars when the Civil War began. Fort Sumter lies on an artificial island in the harbour entrance of Charleston, South Carolina. On 12 April 1861 Confederate batteries opened fire on the federal garrison; after 34 hours of bombardment Major Robert Anderson had to surrender. These were the first shots of the war. Anderson took the flag north with him, where it was shown at rallies for the Union. On 14 April 1865, four years after the surrender, he raised the same flag again over the recaptured fort.

Meaning

The flag shows thirteen red and white stripes and in the blue canton 33 white stars arranged in a diamond. This arrangement was one of many permitted: the act of 1818 prescribed the number of stars, not their placing. What is remarkable is what did not happen — although eleven states seceded, the Union removed not a single star from the flag. In Washington's view a state could not leave the Union at all, and the unchanged number of stars was the visible form of that legal position. On the contrary, West Virginia and Nevada were added during the war.