Large 46 star flag

[capn]

Hi guys,
I just bought this 10' by 15' 46 star flag.
It is stamped "navy" but I am not sure if it means US navy or something possibly just the company that made the flag.
It has sewn on stars and a quarter inch bull rope sewn in. I believe it is wool with brushed cotton stars.

The story is that this flag was flown somewhere in Europe during WW1, taken home, and then brought back tot he same location in Europe by that man's son in WW2.
There is an attached description reading "BerLou Avon Mar 2/45 Huskins" which seems to be the town in France it was flown in, the date, and the owner.

My question is whether this is a naval flag and possibly who the maker is. Based on the large size I am thinking it could be naval but I just don't know.
Thanks!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Cool! Forty-six stars would place it between 1907 (Oklahoma joins the union) and 1912 (New Mexico joins the union)
http://www.e-referencedesk.com/resources/statehood/date-order.html

[capn]

Cool! Forty-six stars would place it between 1907 (Oklahoma joins the union) and 1912 (New Mexico joins the union)
http://www.e-referencedesk.com/resources/statehood/date-order.html

Yep!
Any idea what the "navy" stamp would mean or what the size could mean? Just curious if this was made for civilian use or something else.

[mart]

Just checked on the fabric and that is the correct weave and would have been a wool material with the sewn on stars so its looking right !!  Takes a while on these pics for me to see all of them !!

[capn]

Just checked on the fabric and that is the correct weave and would have been a wool material with the sewn on stars so its looking right !!  Takes a while on these pics for me to see all of them !!

No problem, and thank you!
How do you know what the correct weave is out of curiosity?

[Rauville]

The US Navy had specific sizes for their flags:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq129-1.htm

The flags were mostly produced at Navy Yards:

[capn]

The US Navy had specific sizes for their flags:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq129-1.htm

The flags were mostly produced at Navy Yards:

This flag is 46 stars and therefore pre-1912 which is before the standardization of sizes (which was in 1912)...so I don't know if the sizes still apply or not.
The thing I'm confused about is that this is stamped "NAVY" and nothing else. Wouldn't it be stamped "US" or "US NAVY" if it was in fact US Navy? I could be wrong.

Thanks for that link too

[mariok54]

I hadn't realised that your flag had such an interesting history, I came across this site ..

http://www.poetpatriot.com/timeline/tmlnflagus.htm

Berlou is intriguing as it is and always was a tiny commune in a very nice wine region, with a population  now of probably only 100

[capn]

I hadn't realised that your flag had such an interesting history, I came across this site ..

http://www.poetpatriot.com/timeline/tmlnflagus.htm

Berlou is intriguing as it is and always was a tiny commune in a very nice wine region, with a population  now of probably only 100

Ya, that really adds to the mystery...I have no idea why would have been in Berlou. I can't find any connection to Berlou and ww1 and ww2. Not to say a soldier couldn't have brought the flag there in either war though.

[mart]

Just checked on the fabric and that is the correct weave and would have been a wool material with the sewn on stars so its looking right !!  Takes a while on these pics for me to see all of them !!

No problem, and thank you!
How do you know what the correct weave is out of curiosity?

Found a site that gave the proper materials and how they were made !! Showed a close up of what the proper weave should look like from the 1800`s on !! Your close ups were pretty easy to match !!  Flag making is pretty specific !! As in Only three specific colors can be used with no variation !!