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# 47 Star Flag -unofficial- (U.S.)

##

Last modified: 2026-04-25 by rick wyatt
Keywords: forty-seven | united states | unofficial |
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- Introduction
- Variants

See also:

- United States of America
- History of the Stars and Stripes
- U.S. Flags With Unofficial Number of Stars

## Introduction

It's clear that there's never been an official 47-stars flag of the United States. New Mexico became the 47th state on 6 January 1912, but since the United States only adopts new flags on the 4th of July, the addition of Arizona as the 48th state changed the number of stars again before a new flag was adopted.
Of course, for a new flag to be flown at the 4th of July flag, manufacturers have to make the flags before those are official. In some cases a state was added so close to the 4th of July, that manufacturers had already begun making flags that were never to be. But since Arizona gained statehood on 14 February 1912 this apparently did not happen for the 47 star flag.
The 47 star flag is a rare item. Still, it's not completely unique. Apparently some people did make such flags, what ever their reasons for doing so may have been. Doing some quick Internet research gave me the following list:

- The Tularosa Basin Historical Society Museum has one such flag, with staggered rows of 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, and 7 stars.
- The Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe has a 47-star flag.
- Fort McHenry Monument and Historic Shine apparently also has such a flag.

As you can see, the publically know 47-star flags can be counted on the fingers of one hand. I only found a photograph of the first one, though, and I don't know the patterns of the stars on the other flags.
Most flags appear to be in or near New Mexico, which probably means they were made by people from New Mexico who wanted to demonstrate their pride in gaining statehood.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 September 2000

An incident occurred on Jan. 6, 1912, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when a telegraphed message arrived to confirm that statehood legislation had been signed, the Lt. Governor lowered the 46-star flag and raised a one-of-a-kind 47-star S&S, which he had sewn himself, at the Capitol.
Bill Dunning, 14 February 2007

## Variants

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory

An unofficial U.S. 47-star flag, size: 56" x 110". Star arrangement per row: 8/8/8/8/8/7. Auction house comment: "New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6th, 1912 and was followed by Arizona on February 14th. Per the Third Flag Act of 1818, Congress decreed that the official new year for the American flag was Independence Day, at which time a star would be added for each new state that had entered the Union over the preceding "flag year." Stars were thus added for the 47th and 48th states on July 4th, 1912. For this reason the 47 star count never became official and was accurate for a mere 38 days. .... The canton and stripes of the flag are made of wool bunting that has been pieced and joined with machine stitching. The stars are made of cotton and are double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) with a zigzag machine stitch. There is a sailcloth canvas sleeve along the hoist with two brass grommets."

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/157320928678

8/8/8/8/8/7 (top row flush left)

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory

7/7/7/7/7/7/5 star arrangement; size 17.25" x 24.5"

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology

8/8/8/8/8/7 star arrangement, rows aligned flush-left.

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://freemansauction.com

8/7/8/8/8/8 star arrangement; size: 7"x2" silk flag. [documented in the book "The Stars and Stripes: Fabric of the American Spirit", Richard Pierce, LLC, 2005 (page 20).]

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.amazon.com/magFlags

8/8/7/8/8/8 star arrangement.

William Garrison, 21 March 2026