Bennington Flag Real or Not?
This is another 4’x4′ painting for the American Flag series. I did a smaller version of the Bennington flag but I wanted to do a larger one for the collection. The history behind this flag is interesting. The Bennington Flag large ’76’ makes it easily identifiable as banner from the American Revolution, and it seems every one has seen this flag at one time or another.
A legend claims that the original Bennington Flag was carried off the field by Nathaniel Fillmore and passed down through the Fillmore family, and was, at one time, in the possession of President Millard Fillmore, Nathaniel’s grandson. Philetus P. Fillmore flew a Bennington flag in 1877, to commemorate the Battle of Bennington. Mrs. Maude Fillmore Wilson donated the family flag to the Bennington Museum. Because of the family association, the flag is also referred to as the “Fillmore Flag”.
Many doubt the actual use of the Fillmore flag at the Battle of Bennington. The flag of John Stark’s Green Mountain Boys is generally accepted to have been there, but the Bennington flag has become more strongly associated with the event. Both Stark’s flag and the Fillmore flag are held in a collection at the Bennington Museum, but the Stark flag is accepted as an 18th century regimental banner, while the museum has dated the Bennington flag from the 1800s based on the nature of the machine-woven fabric it is made from.The curator of textiles in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of History and Technology speculated that the flag may even have been a centennial banner, made circa 1876. If this is true than this flag is historic but it represnts a different era than what people think it represents. I will go with the Smithsonians observations. 2’x2′ Giclee canvas reprints of this artwork are available for $165.00 email steve@bergerfinearts if interested. Free shipping of course.
