For years, a bundle of flags sat languishing in a massive floor-to-ceiling flag case in the Burnside Building. At one time, the flags were brought out every year for events such as Memorial Day and July 4th observances, but eventually, they were deemed too old for use. So there they stayed, tightly furled around their flagpoles, wrapped in plastic.

“The flags were probably there from the time the Burnside building was built in 1883,” said former Town Clerk Lou Cirillo. “I was always told the case contained General Burnside memorabilia.”

Burnside memorabilia would have dated from the Civil War.

“We knew we had some old Civil War flags in there that we should do something with, but we knew it would cost a fortune and there were so many other priorities,” said Cirillo. By chance, someone visiting the Burnside Building to look at Civil War memorabilia asked about the contents of the flag case. When Cirillo told him what he thought the town had in there, the man said he knew someone who might be interested.

Patrick Donovan, Director of the Varnum Armory military history museum, was indeed interested, as was Maria Vazquez, an expert textile conservator. In 2019, not long after being put in touch with Cirillo, Donovan and Vazquez came to Bristol and, with Cirillo, peeled back the plastic to get a better look.

A few things soon became clear: Bristol had flags that might have been carried in battle during the Civil War, we had another flag significantly older than that, and the flags were in terrible shape.

An historic partnership
Donovan, for the Varnum Armory, proposed to the Town of Bristol that they investigate, conserve, and display Bristol’s historic flags at their East Greenwich museum, with the conservation work to be performed by Vazquez’ company, Royal Conservation Inc. Given the large investment of time and money, Donovan asked the Town of Bristol to allow any of the conserved flags to be put on long-term display at the Varnum Armory Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of Rhode Island military history. The Town of Bristol would retain ownership, and the Varnum Armory would allow the Town of Bristol to borrow and display the flags for special events.

Town Administrator Steven Contente admits he initially balked a bit.

“I didn’t know anything about the Varnum Armory and my first reaction was that we weren’t giving our flags away, but Lou told me not to be short sighted…We had these very valuable historic artifacts and we don’t have the capacity to restore and properly display them, and there’s a place here in Rhode Island with the knowledge and ability to restore and care for these items at no cost to the Town.”

Several of the other flags were in very poor condition, their silk badly shattered or in the process of shattering, meaning the silk fabric is very brittle and breaks into pieces — even dust or powder if deterioration goes far enough.

“When Maria and I went in 2019 and started to unfurl the flags you could tell immediately they were 19th century. They were weighted with metal, very brittle, and we had to stop,” said Donovan.

“We brought the flags to the Armory and built a humidification chamber, and the flags spent 2 weeks in there. Then we spent a whole day unfurling.”

Byfield Flag believed to be the oldest in the Western Hemisphere
While there were several flags of great historical interest in the bundle, two were exceptional: a 33-star 1861 U.S. ‘Great Star’ flag, and the Byfield Flag.

When they found the Byfield Flag, they immediately knew it was special because it still had the original finial, engraved with the date 1687.

Nathaniel Byfield was a wealthy and influential founder of Bristol and a judge and Colonel in the Bristol County militia. Research uncovered a period reference to him buying a “stand of colors” (flags) for his company.

The flag that emerged from the Bristol case was plain, gold-colored silk with fringe, but no words or adornments of any kind. Donovan did some research and learned that in the Colonial militia, a colonel’s flag would have been plain red. This one had turned gold with age, though a couple of tiny remnants of red still remain. What’s more, there were blood stains found on the flag and it is believed that the flag was used in King William’s War and Queen Ann’s War — small but violent wars fought between Britain and France but with the engagement of colonists and indigenous fighters.

Conservation work on the Byfield flag was completed last year; the flag is now on display at the Varnum Armory.

A small piece of rust-colored staining on the flag will soon undergo testing at the Smithsonian Institution.

“They’re testing for human blood, and if they find a good enough sample they will run a full DNA analysis,” said Donovan.

Next: Bristol’s ‘Great Star’ flag
The “Great Star” flag is in significantly worse shape than the Byfield flag was, due to the fact that flags of the period were weighted with metal added to the silk to make them stiffer and swishier. But while the added metal may have made the flags look better in their time, it’s disastrous for long-term conservation, causing such flags to eventually shatter to dust.

We actually have a pretty good idea where this Great Star came from, and where it went. A picture in the June 8, 1861 issue of the Phoenix appears to show the men of the 2nd RI Volunteer Regiment following the presentation of the Great Star flag from made for them by the ‘Ladies of Bristol.’

“We think it was the second flag carried by company G at first battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War,” said Donovan. “It’s circumstantial evidence, but it’s very good circumstantial evidence.”

The hand-stitched rivets are another sign that this was the flag made by the Ladies of Bristol. “We think this might be a marine, New England, technique,” said Donovan.

The Tenney Foundation out of New Hampshire has offered $4,000 for the conservation of the Great Star Flag, a project Vazquez hopes to begin by June.

The canton (the square of stars) is in good shape, mainly because the ladies of Bristol used unweighted dress fabric for that segment. The stars, likewise, created with a paper piecing technique that shows some paper still visible in the centers, are pretty intact. The stripes, however, are in bad shape — fragments of the red stripes remain, but the white have virtually turned to dust. To help people understand the importance of this flag and see it for what it once was, Vazquez will first create a replica of the flag, and will superimpose the remaining fragments over the replica.

“Making the backing probably won’t take very long, but attaching the pieces….,” she trailed off.

When history hits you
Vazquez tells a story that encapsulates why this conservation work is so meaningful. Not long ago, she was conserving a flag that flew at Gettysburg during Abraham Lincoln’s iconic address. With the flag attached to its backing, she inadvertently moved it so that, for a second, it almost appeared to wave, for the first time since it flew over Lincoln in 1863.

“I got goosebumps,” she said. “Sometimes history just hits you in the face.”

“Flags meant so much to the soldiers, most of whom had never traveled outside their communities,” said Donovan. “The flag represented the national government, and in the noise and confusion of battle, the flag was a signpost.”

“Seeing it flying would have given hope to the unit,” said Vazquez.
“Even in the condition it’s in, it’s going to be amazing,” said Donovan of Bristol’s Great Star Flag. “This flag was present at one of the most pivotal events in American history, and so few survive today.”

The Varnum Armory is curating a remarkable collection of Rhode Island military history, and they are undergoing renovations to upgrade their space and exhibits. Open by appointment at this time, you can learn more by visiting their website.

Moving forward, they are working on accessing Rhode Island’s collection of more than 80 historic flags which, for years, hung at the State House. With the flags deteriorating, they were taken down and stabilized, and are now in a Massachusetts art storage facility. Donovan and Vazquez have been reaching out to the state in an effort to access and begin working on conserving the collection, which includes the flag carried by the 1st RI regiment at the Battle of Yorktown, the final decisive battle of the American Revolution.

“I’m very proud of what we are doing here,” said Donovan. “We operate on a shoestring budget; we’re all volunteers. We’re saving our state’s heritage and history.”