Expert: Albert Kirsch - 10/24/2009

Question
I have a flag I received at my uncle's funeral in 1955. This is THE flag that was placed on his casket. This flag has never left my family and has several gold stripes where the white stripes should be. The first, second, fourth, and sixth white stripes are all gold, while the third and fifth are white. Also there are only 48 stars, if this helps. No one I have asked has ever heard about this flag and I was wondering what the significance was in this pattern of gold stripes, and why the gold cloth was used. These stripes are not a stain, as other people have suggested because the threads used to hold the stripes together are still white. Any information you have is very much appreciated.

Answer
I received the following letter from Whitney Smith, the man who founded the field of vexillology and who coined the very word. This is what he wrote:

"Dear Al,

Over the past few years I've had a number of flags brought to my attention
that have similar characteristics, they appear to be standard 48-star US
flags except that there are stripes of yellow that appear on some part of
the flag.  These presumably were done intentionally, but most of the men
involved have died and their relatives now hope to find out what the meaning
is - too late.  There probably was some kind of symbolism having to do with
the individual or military circumstances that is now lost.  I wish I could
help you on this but military and government authorities I have contacted
don't seem to know either.  I have some images of actual flags and will
eventually pull them together to form an article in The Flag Bulletin which
should at least give a better idea of the intentions of the maker.

Best regards,
Whitney"

If he doesn't know, nobody knows. One wishes that the makers of the flags had left some written notes, but so far we have none. And there we are; stuck.