Err there are two flags.

The guy is a moron though.

The 'military' flag has Gold fringe around three sides, the 'civilian' doesnt.

Sounds like any one of the many tin-foil hat guys running around this place...

[url]www.barefootsworld.net/uscivilflag.html[/url]

[url]www.civil-liberties.com/pages/mystery_of_the_flag.htm[/url]

[url]www.outlawslegal.com/organic/flag.htm[/url]

[url]www.ddi.digital.net/%7Ekenaston/Patr/USCivFlag.html[/url]

I learned something new today.

The gold fringe around a flag is because it's an indoor flag.

No.

The presence of gold fringe adornment around the flag is only for decorative purposes, and is generally only found indoors. The fringe IS NOT part of the flag. The flag consists only of the stripes, field and stars.

Read more [url=http://www.usflag.org/colors.html]here[/url].

More US flag Bravo Sierra debunking found [url=http://www.fotw.ca/flags/us-myth.html]here[/url], on a Canadian website, of all places.

[url=http://www.webleyweb.com/klh/flag.html]Here[/url] is a rather engaged dissertation on the matter from a Southerner, who, as we know, take flags very seriously.

tc6969, read the whole thing closer. In the passage you quoted, the original writer was speaking of the vertical pales of the Great [u][b]SEAL[/b][/u] of the United States, not the flag itself.

Does anyone have any pictures of this flag in use besides the one that's on a couple of those websites from 1919? Surely there's more out there than that one picture.  The link provided earlier had some interesting reading[url]www.barefootsworld.net/uscivilflag.html[/url].

"Although intended just for custom's house usage, the new civil flag became adopted by both custom houses and merchants.... the practice of using the custom's flag as a civil flag became encoded in law in 1874 when......required all custom houses to display the Civil Flag."

I found a drawing in Munsey's Magazine Vol X, No. 4 Jan 1894 that shows the United States Custom House on Wall Street. They're flying the horizontal striped flag.

These articles say that verticle striped flags were flown for non-militery functions and installations. They were supposedly totally phased out in the 1950's.

I talked to a couple of older relatives tonight(80's), they don't remember anything.

I looked through some old maazines from the 1800's ( they're actually books a about 2" thick) and some old history books with old photos and paintings. No verticle striped flags at any non-military functions.

1793 NYC Tontine Coffeehouse( the forerunner of the NYSE).1840 Whig rally for Will. Harrison in Philadelphia.1859 steamships on the Mississippi. 1876 the Centennial at Independence Hall. This picture even shows the Grand Union Flag(1775-1777) flying from the highest flagpole on the ground. A photo from May 10, 1876 Philadelphia in front of Memorial Hall. Another one taken from Machinery Hall. This one shows a variation where all of the stars are formed together into the shape of one large star on the blue background. This is a flag, not bunting or a banner. 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. 1893 Guthrie, OK. 1893 Colorado Springs Country Club.1885 Inauguration of Cleveland. 1914 Utah-Nevada state line, lineman at work. 1915 KKK rally in Long Branch, NJ. 1920's NYC street.

I didn't see one picture of the verticle striped flag. I know this flag is rare, but it was the national Civil flag from 1799-1951. Surely there are more pictures out there.