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# Stars and Bars flag: Confederate States of America

## First National Flag of the Confederacy

Last modified: 2026-07-18 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | csa | stars and bars |
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image by Clay Moss, 2 November 2007 7 Star Version |  | image by Clay Moss, 2 November 2007 13 Star Version

- Stars and Bars
- Variation in the number of stars
- 10 Star flags
- First National Flag Anti-Lincoln Cover, 11-star design
- 12 Star from Vicksburg Garrison
- 12 Star from Ships in North Carolina
- 12 Star from Glasgow Riverside Museum, Scotland
- 13 Star flag sold in 2022
- 14 Star flag sold in 2025
- Possible 15 Star variant
- Seventeen Stars

See also:

- Confederate Flags
- Stainless Banner
- Third National
- United States of America
  External sites:
- FOTC - Flags of the Confederacy

## Stars and Bars (First National Flag)

image by Wayne J. Lovett, 24 June 2001
The flag which first flew over Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, SC in 1861.

The first official flag of the confederacy was the Stars and Bars, and was reported to the provisional congress of the C.S. by the flag committee on March 4,1861. It appears to have not had a recorded vote. It was written into the journal of the congress. It is said to have been designed by Nicola Marschall, a Prussian Artist and to have been inspired by the Austrian flag. It appears in many variations with stars ranging from 7 to 15 stars. 11 states that seceded from the Union, 2 (Kentucky and Missouri that had confederate and union governments), 1 (Maryland) that attempted to secede but whose legislature was disbanded by federal officials and was unable to join the confederacy, even though it furnished more troops to the cause then at least one member of that country and 1 slave state (Delaware) that remained loyal to the union.
William M. Grimes-Wyatt, 29 April 1996

There is a tombstone in Henderson, NC for Orrin Randolph Smith with an inscription "designer of the Stars and Bars". He claimed (some time after the fact) that he had designed the original national flag of the Confederate States of America, commonly known as the "Stars and Bars". His claim is in conflict with a similar claim by Nichola Marschal. There was a great conflict between the descendants and partisans of these two claimants in the early years of the 20th century.
Without going into great detail, I am inclined to favour Marschal's claim, because he was known as a designer and painter of flags, and Smith was not, and Marschal was in Alabama, not far from the seat of the Confederate government, when the flag was adopted, while Smith was in North Carolina, which was still a member of the United States on 4 March 1861.
However, there is a good possibility in my mind that Smith and Marschal submitted similar designs. The design of the Stars and Bars is a simplification of the Stars and Stripes that could have been the composed by both men, and in fact, in the records of the Committee on Flag and Seal of the Confederate States Congress, there is another design, submitted by someone from South Carolina, which is the same design, but with the stars on a red canton, with blue/white/blue horizontal bars.
Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 3 July 2000

Nicola Marschall was Prussian and lived in Alabama at the time the flag was adopted. He had an Austrian connection. I believe that he served in the Austrian army or held a civil service position in the Imperial government prior to his immigration to America. Because of that, it has been suggested that he drew the three bars from the flag of the Austrian Empire. Whether or not that is true, I suspect that the Confederate Congress approved the flag because it retained an impression of an "American" flag, while theoretically being different enough to be distinguishable as a separate flag.
Devereaux D. Cannon, 5 March 2002

This is also a tombstone erected by the UDC in Wilson, NC which claims Rebecca Winborne was "maker" of the original Stars and Bars.
George I. Woodall, 27 January 2003

I was not aware that another North Carolinian had laid claims to making the first Confederate First National flag. However, as William Porcher Miles, head of the Flag Committee stated when the flag was presented to the CS Provisional Congress, the flag was not chosen from any of the submitted designs - it was created by the flags committee itself! None of the period newspapers of the time (March, 1681) ever stated anyone else as being the designer - which I would think was a very important thing to announce if it was a flag designed by a Confederate citizen. Those that mention the details of how it came about all state it was designed by the flag committee.
Thus anyone that claims making the flag is incorrect. Nicola Marschall's claim, with his being in Alabama and having connections to the Confederate Congress through influential friends was the closest, I think, based on the evidence I have read over the years, to being its designer. However, with the similarity of so many of the designs as submitted (see the designs posted on the Flags Of The Confederacy website - www.confederateflags.org) this flag was bound to have been "designed" by at least two people as being the same. So the Committee on Flag and Seal came up with its design, which Miles reported - and so did Nicola Marschall and Orren R. Smith (of NC). Keep in mind, both of the latter people's claims are post-war - in the case of Smith WAY post-war!
Greg Biggs, 28 January 2003

Surviving examples of the Confederate First National flag are known with the following numbers of stars: 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 17 stars. Most of the stars have 5 points but other examples have 4 (especially the lance penons), 6 and even 8 points.
Greg Biggs, 15 March 2006, 25 June 2007

Neither Nicola Marschall of Alabama or Orren Randolph Smith of North Carolina designed this flag! In the National Archives there is the flags book of the Confederate Congress with all of the letters and documentation along with many design submissions for the various Confederate National flags. All of the names of the submitters (at least for those that gave their names) are in this book. I have copies of everything from the book in my files.
Neither Smith's nor Marschall's name appear anywhere in the book or the notations of the Confederate Committee on Flag & Seal. If you carefully read what Joe McMillan posted from the Journal of the Confederate Congress you will note that it stated that none of the designs submitted were chosen and that the flag was designed by the committee itself! This was written by committee chairman William Porcher Miles of South Carolina.
So the flag was designed by the flag committee and not either of the two claimants - both of whose claims date to some years after the American Civil War was over - just like the Betsy Ross claim for the first USA flag.
Greg Biggs, 7 March 2008

The Confederate Committee on Flag & Seal was in a big hurry to get a flag chosen and at least one made up and on a flag pole in the then capitol of Montgomery, Alabama by March 4, 1861. The reason was that, back then, this was the day that US presidents would be sworn into office after their election the previous November (that day is in January now). Thus, on March 4th, 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was to be sworn in and the Confederates desperately needed to have one flag on a pole in defiance of this act.
Once the committee made their report to the Confederate Congress, an example was quickly made at the sewing machine store of Cowles in Montgomery and a hasty flag ceremony put together for later in the day. Grand-daughter of former U.S. President John Tyler, Letitia Tyler, was chosen to hoist the first Confederate flag. Sadly, this first Confederate flag has been lost to history.
This completely explains their haste and the lack of proper flag dimensions in the provision creating this flag as well as there even being a proper legal flag act.
Greg Biggs, 8 March 2008

## Variation of the number of stars

The reason for the variations in number of stars in the Stars and Bars was due to lack of centralized purchasing. The original ones had 7 stars and more were added as additional states joined and the flag makers became aware of the number of states.

In Oct. 1861, a rump legislative body in Missouri dissolved the bond to the union and joined the confederacy. Kentucky was recognized as neutral at first but later was represented in the Confederate congress, bringing the stars to 13. However many flagmakers only recognized those states that were able to maintain state governments within their own territory, so that 41% of the over 300 surviving STARS AND BARS have only 11 stars. Missouri and Kentucky were overrun by the union and maintained representation in the federal government.

One interesting variation is the 12 star version, used by Nathan Bedford Forest, who swore not to include the star for Georgia, "as long as a Yankee remains on Georgia's soil."

Of the survivors those having eight stars, 9%; nine stars, 5%; ten stars, 4%; twelve stars, 9%; fourteen stars, 0.6%; and 15 stars, 5%. The fourteenth star was for Maryland, whose governor was under house arrest and whose legislature was disbanded until the jailed members were replaced in a election where all voters had to take an oath of allegiance to the federal government. The 15th star was for Delaware, the other slave state. Unlike Maryland, who raised a number of regiments in exile from citizens who escaped across the river into Virginia and actually had more troops in the field for the confederacy then Florida, Delaware, the first state in the union, remained loyal to the federals.
William M. Grimes-Wyatt, 24 January 1996

## 10-star flags

Officially, the flag of the Confederate States was to have "a circle of white stars corresponding in number with the States of the Confederacy." Unofficially, however, a circle of stars around one star in the center was quite common.
Ten star flags were not very common, as a result of the very brief span of time between North Carolina's admission to the Confederacy and the admission of Tennessee. One that does exist has a circle of eight stars around two in the center.
Devereaux Cannon, 13 September 2005

## First National Flag Anti-Lincoln Cover, 11-star design

image located by William Garrison, 7 June 2026

Source: https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/civil-war
Caption from ad: "Jefferson Davis: First National Flag Anti-Lincoln Cover, 11-star design, circa 1861. Inscribed, "We Laugh to Scorn the Efforts of the Rail-Splitter." [Union Pres. Abe Lincoln had the nickname of "The Rail-Splitter", because as a young man in Indiana and Illinois, Lincoln frequently used an ax to clear land, build cabins, and chop wood to make split-rail fences for containing livestock. His supporters wanted to highlight his humble beginnings and to appeal to working-class voters.]
William Garrison, 7 June 2026

## 12 Star Version from the Vicksburg Garrison

image by Devereaux Cannon, 24 June 2001

The 12th star indicates Missouri, which was admitted to the Confederacy by act of Congress on 28 November 1861. The provisional government of Kentucky was admitted as the 13th State on 10 December 1861.
Devereaux Cannon, 24 June 2001

image located by William Garrison, 2 June 2024

A variation of the "13 Stars and Bars" flag, here different with 12-stars in circle and 1-star in middle, with 3 alternating red/white/red stripes; here most stars point towards center star; 35" x 96", silk, found in Dinwiddie, Virginia; c. 1865.

This flag also resembles the "Cowpens" flag of 1781, but it had 13 stripes - not 3 as here.
I contacted the seller to learn if he had more info about this flag, he replied: "I don't. The flag was found in a shoe box in Dinwiddie in an attic during an estate clean out. There were no surviving family to answer questions."
William Garrison, 2 June 2024

## 12 Star Version from Ships in North Carolina

image submitted by Frederik Prohaska, 20 April 2003

This ensign was used from 1861 to 1863.
Frederik Prohaska, 20 April 2003

It is an image of a Confederate naval ensign. However, the Union source which produced it is wrong in its implication that it was "the" Confederate naval ensign. There are two surviving flags of this pattern. The one illustrated belonged to the CSS Ellis. A similar flag with 9 stars belonged to the CSS Curlew. Both of these vessels were part of the naval squadron at Roanoke Island, North Carolina, commanded by Commodore W. F. Lynch. They are evidence that the other ships of the Roanoke Island squadron may have used ensigns with similar linear star patterns, but there is no evidence that any other Confederate naval vessels used that pattern. There are about 20 surviving CS naval ensigns of the Stars & Bars pattern. One has a lone star, one has eleven stars arranged in a "Great Star" type pattern, and all of the rest use some variant of a circular pattern.
Devereaux Cannon, 21 April 2003

## 12 Star from Glasgow Riverside Museum, Scotland

image provided by John Messner, Curator, 17 March 2025

This flag was once owned by James Smith, Scottish businessman and one time resident of Jackson, Mississippi.

Description:
Red, white, red horizontal tricolour with a blue canton. Within the canton are twelve five-pointed white stars. Made from Cotton.
This design is known as the First National Pattern, known as the ‘Stars and Bars’, used by the Confederate States of America from 1861 until May 1863, when it was replaced by the Second National pattern, known as the ‘Stainless Banner’.
Donated by great-granddaughter of Mr. Smith

History of this flag
It is said to have been owned by James Smith of Glasgow (br. Edinburgh, 1816). Mr. Smith moved to America in 1832 and settled in Jackson, Mississippi. There he set up a business making cast iron stoves. He became friends with Jefferson Davis, who became the first president of the C.S.A. in 1861. Mr. Smith returned to Scotland in 1853 due the ill health of his wife. Mr. Smith had a brother, Robert, who also moved to Mississippi. During the Civil War he joined the 10th Mississippi Regiment and died at the battle of Munfordville in September 1862.
Mr Smith showed his support for his friends and former home by flying a C.S.A. flag from his home in Glasgow. File states it was flown in Glasgow in 1861. According to Post Office Directory, Mr Smith lived at 41 St. Vincent Crescent in 1861. Mr. Smith, according to file, also showed support for his former city by purchasing 25 Belgian rifles and one 6-pounder brass canon for defence of Jackson. He bought C.S.A. bonds and wrote to the local press in support of the C.S.A. cause. Mr. Davis visited Mr. Smith at his Glasgow home (at that time Benvue, a home in the West End near Hyndland Street) in 1869. Photos exist from this visit. Mr. Smith was also visited by Charles Manship, a friend from Jackson. Mr. Manship came to Glasgow in 1874. An account from his diary (held by Manship House Museum) reads: "...We made the trip in 10 1/2 days from N. York to Glasgow, reaching the Latter place at 6 oclock on Saturday morning. We found our friend Smith & his daughter Christina awaiting our arrival at the Anchor Pier Mr. Smith throwing to the breeze the Battle Flag of the 10th Missi. Regiment which had the effect of confusing me somewhat, the bars in the corner of the flag being a close resemblance to the British flag & the distance being so great as to prevent an identification of either the person of Mr. Smith or the Flag."
This does not appear to be T.1998.32 as the design noted is different from the First National Pattern
History of First National design
The Confederate States of America adopted three different national flag patterns between 1861 and 1865. The Provisional Confederate Congress adopted the First National pattern, also referred to as the “Stars and Bars,” on March 4, 1861. This pattern flag flew over the Capitol at Montgomery, Alabama, where the Provisional Congress met prior to the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861.
Museum of the Confederacy website
ADOPTION OF THE "STARS & BARS"
The original ftag or the Confederate States or America, commonly known as the "STARS AND BARS", was approved by the Congress or the Provisional Government of the Confederate States, and first hoisted over the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, on the afternoon of the 4th day of March, 1861. Congress did not adopted a formal Act codifying this flag, but it is described in the Report of the Committee on Flag and Seal, in the following language:
The flag of the Confederate States of America shall consist or a red field with a white space extending horizontally through the center, and equal in width to one-third the width of the flag. The red space above and below to be the same width as the white. The union blue extending down through the white space and stopping at the lower red space. In the center of the union a circle of white stars corresponding in number with the States in the Confederate.
The first flag was raised over the capitol in Montgomery by Miss Letitia Christian Tyler, the granddaughter of President John Tyler. This new flag spread quickly in use across the South, even beyond the borders of the seven States of the CSA. The official version was to have the stars in a circle, with the number corresponding to the States actually admitted to the Confederacy. Thus, there would have been 7 stars from 4 March 1861 until 7 May 1861, when Virginia became the 8th Confederate State by Act of Congress. Thereafter, the number of stars continued to increase until Tennessee gained her seat as the 11th State on 2 July 1861. The number remained 11 through the summer, but increased when Missouri and Kentucky were admitted to the CSA by Acts of Congress approved 28 November 1861 and 10 December 1861, respectively. Despite the official pattern and numbers, however, individual examples of the Stars and Bars varied greatly, with numbers of stars ranging from 1 to 17, and star patterns varying greatly beyond the officially sanctioned circle.
Origin of the flag and why does it have 12 stars
Flag makers in Mississippi during Civil War. This includes Charles Henry Manship, close personal friend to James Smith
http://www.confederate-flags.org/confederate%20flag%20makers-5.html
http://mdah.state.ms.us/mississippivictorian/james-smith/
Matches description of Vicksburg Garrison flag of 1863
http://www.confederate-flags.org/confederate%20national%20flags.html
John Messner, Curator, via Kenneth Fraser, 17 March 2025

## 13 Star flag sold in 2022

image located by William Garrison, 14 October 2022

From https://historical.ha.com:
Huge First National Flag with Inspiring Motto. The 72" x 39" flag is made of a blend of wool and cotton. The canton has thirteen stars arranged in a circular pattern, with one star in the center and a star at each corner. The stars are made of silk. Entirely hand-stitched. The white stripe has a stenciled inscription: "In God, Will We Put Our Trust." This is a direct quote from a letter written to John Adams by Samuel Swift on October 20, 1774, in the run-up to the Revolutionary War. The seceding states saw the War for Independence as an inspiration, model, and justification for their actions. Sleeve-style hoist. Issued in the very early days of the war, likely April 1861, when the Confederates hoped for thirteen states, including border states, to throw their lot in with the South.
William Garrison, 15 October 2022

## 14 Star flag sold in 2025

image located by William Garrison, 2 October 2025

From https://bid.poulinauctions.com:
A 14-star "Stars and Bars" variety of the CSA's first national flag, all hand sewn. The flag is constructed of light weight silk. It measures 41" hoist, 2" cotton sleeve, 62" on fly, canton is 19" x 17.5" with double-applique 3" silk stars. This flag belonged to Lt. Russell Caples, of the "Searcy Missouri Cavalry". From his letter: "APRIL of 1865 a tough remnant of our old regiment fought under General Kirby Smith....Returning home to Glasgow, I kept my sash and the flag under which I had fought so many battles. Mother had died and father [Confederate chaplain] was mortally wounded by a cannon shell during the battle of Glasgow [October 15, 1864]. I arrived home with no job and two half sisters to support." Russell Bigelow Caples (1841-1915) entered service as private in "Searcy Sharpshooters" in 1862 was promoted to Lieutenant serving till June 7, 1865, when he was given his parole of honor at Shreveport, Louisiana. The Searcy Sharpshooter's served in western theatre under Generals Earl Van Dorn & Sterling Price. Upon his return home finding such devastation, he turned to law, becoming an attorney and later a judge till his death in 1915. From an earlier note by William M. Grimes-Wyatt, 24 January 1996: "The fourteenth star was for Maryland, whose governor was under house arrest and whose legislature was disbanded until the jailed members were replaced in a election where all voters had to take an oath of allegiance to the federal government."
William Garrison, 2 October 2025

## Possible 15 Star variant

image located by William Garrison, 2 October 2025

This flag is being touted as an 1860s US-CSA Civil War flag of the "McNeill Partisan Rangers" with an opening auction bid of $15,000 at https://bid.poulinauctions.com/VERY-FINE-CONFEDERATE-FIRST-NATIONAL-BATTLEFLAG-OF_i58043058
Sadly, there is no provenance provided for this flag besides that it was made "by the "Confederate ladies of Moorefield" Virginia according to an associated tag" and "Flag is company sized 63" on fly and 32.5" on hoist." The auction ad recounts the many battles that this military unit participated in. One would think that a prospective buyer would question how this "silk" flag survived on battlefields without any obvious "wear and tear" - it is so pure, and the "strings" holding the flag to a flagpole during a dashing cavalry charge are simply so dainty and too weak to be considered to be credibly strong enough to attach to a pole. Most likely it was made during the early 1900s for some Civil War veterans remembrance encampment.

The Poulin Auction ad states: "This early flag was made by the "Confederate ladies of Moorefield" Virginia according to an associated tag. This flag had been on loan and displayed at the Hardy County Historical Society, Moorefield, West Virginia for many years till the museum was closed and returned to the family." Well, the museum rep informed me that their museum is still open today, and the flag was returned to the family when one of the family members asked for it to be returned to them. He said that he remembers that during the late 1990s when the flag was offered "on loan" to their Museum, that they were never able to find any additional provenance to verify that this flag was used during the Civil War.
William Garrison, 2 October 2025

## Seventeen Stars

image by James J. Ferrigan III, 4 May 1999

The 1861 Pattern AKA "1st National" Confederate National flag and Ensign is known to have occurred with a wide range of both star patterns and numbers of stars. Examples of surviving flags as well as period drawings allow us to identify flags with as few as one star (at least two known) and as many as 17 stars (one surviving example.) The most stars displayed on an 1861 Pattern Confederate flag is 17. The flag still survives and was taken by Capt. Jack Biderman an officer of the California State Militia on July 4th 1861, in Sacramento, California after an incident with an armed secessionist.
The flag, sometimes called the "Biderman Flag", is an example of the irredentism that affected Confederate flag design in general, in that they often contained stars for territory that was coveted, but not under actual Confederate control. The flag is believed to have been associated with a secret society which was active the American West called the Knights of the Golden Circle. Their avowed goal was to take California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon out of the Union and either have them join the Confederacy or start a new nation to be called Pacifica or the Pacific Republic.
The actual 26"x46" flag is preserved in the museum at the capitol in Sacramento, CA.
James J. Ferrigan III, 4 May 1999