1861 Union Battle Flag
1st Minnesota Company G National Battle Flag, Silk, Wool, Minnesota, MNHS 2018.42.1
This battle flag, carried into the First Battle of Bull Run, came into the MNHS collection in 2018. The flag needed to be consolidated and mounted on a new, lightweight support. This treatment was featured in the Pioneer Press.
The flag came into the collection mounted in a heavy frame under glass. The flag was directly mounted onto a thick paper board by way of plastic garment tags. These were incredibly numerous and hard to see. Once the flag was removed, a custom-made aluminum honeycomb board was padded and covered with show fabric. The flag was then stitched down to the mount, taking care to consolidate fragile areas.
On this project, I was specifically tasked to consolidate the 34 silk stars. The silk was shattering and left the wefts exposed. These were tacked down with laid and couching stitches in Skala thread.