Thirteen star American Flag, 5 pointed variant of the "Great Star Pattern" [likely Rhode Island], ca. 1777-1794

Thirteen star American Flag, 5 pointed variant of the "Great Star Pattern" [likely Rhode Island], ca. 1777-1794

Stripes of homespun wool bunting, hand-stitched with cotton and linen thread, cotton stars single-appliquéd and under-hemmed, hoist of plain weave cotton binding along the hoist, with two whip-stitched, buttonhole grommets; with field or camp repairs.

The famed ex-Mastai Collection "Kirby Flag."

One of the earliest American flags extant, with attributed Revolutionary War provenance of Lt. Ephraim Kirby of Connecticut, wounded multiple times in the Revolution and ensign in Olney’s Rhode Island Battalion—an integrated unit partly comprised of the remains of the “Black Battalion” (the first such of its kind in America). 

Though Ephraim Kirby spent much of the early war at the rank of private, he nonetheless managed to forge a larger-than-life presence that continued well after the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Participating in 19 engagements with the enemy, he was wounded 13 times. In one skirmish along the Schuylkill River, near Philadelphia, he is recorded as having been slashed in the head 7 times by a saber and left for dead. On 23 August 1782, he received a commission with the rank of ensign. In this role he became flag-bearer. 

In 1783, Kirby became a founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Within Washington’s lifetime, Kirby held the positions of Secretary (1793–1797) and Vice President (1797–1798) of the organization in the State of Connecticut. 

EXHIBITION

Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Park, in Corona, New York: Selections from the Mastai Flag Collection, July 1977

Museum of The American Revolution: “A New Constellation,” 14 June–21 July 2019; "Flags & Founding Documents," 12 June–6 September 2021; "Banners of Liberty," 19 April–10 August 2025