Description:

This swallowtail silk national flag has 34 gold-colored painted stars arranged in two concentric circles with 12 in the inner circle, 18 stars in the outer circle, and one star in each corner.  The stars are very faded and discolored.  The flag has very strong creases where it was folded and there are splits along some of these lines.  There is a black staining on the bottom red stripe near the hoist edge.  The hoist end was fashioned into a sleeve for attachment to a staff.

In 2000, the flag was donated to Save the Flags by David and Janice Esch and their children.  David Esch found the flag in a box that had been marked for the trash by neighbors who were cleaning out their house.  The box contained the flag and papers of Cuthbert W. Laing who helped organize the Thirteenth Battery First Michigan Light Artillery.