Significance
Exceptional specimen of a rare original 1818, Navy issued, 20-Star Naval Ensign.
Documentation establishes the flag’s direct line of provenance as passed down through successive generations to the present day.3F
Proudly flown from the mast of Captain George Nicholas’s first ship, standing guard over the PS Harkaway, a civil patrol and transport Privateer for the US Navy.
As a keel boat conversion, PS Harkaway was a unique sidewheel paddle steamer, built only for the bravest with exceptional mastery of the Tennessee River.
Pioneering Captain Nicholson was first on the Tennessee River to acquire a steam whistle, making the Harkaway a substantially safer vessel than its competitors.
Revered upon the river, the beloved captain would earn the distinction of having a steamboat named after him with the sailing of the George Nicholson.
Comparable to the U.S. 20 Star Navy Boat Flag & Ensign of Zaricor Flag Collection ID# ZFC0421.
About the Nicholson
20 Star American Flag
Crafted by skilled seamstresses in 1818 at the dawn of our republic, the Nicholson Flag was built to withstand the rigors of life along shifting waterways and changeable winds. Laden with symbolism in each animation stitch and guiding thread, it bore courageous witness to swelling America's frontier as the 20th star joined the fledgling union it represented.
Proudly raised aloft the Harkaway under intrepid Captain George Nicholson's command, this flag survived raucous rivers, perilous privations and enemies both foreign and domestic and emerged intact to relay its field-earned history. Generations of the good captain's descendants treasured its woven narratives, ensuring steady passage to the present day.
Now available to a visionary collector, acquisition of this rare 1818 20-Star Naval Ensign secures not only a prized artifact of unprecedented historic importance, but stewardship of a legend that safeguarded expanding states, brave pioneers, and the prosperity of our people from its genesis. Its purchase offers exclusive society within a lineage extending to the nation's birth, alongside appreciation for ancestral courage and craft that laid our foundations as a vibrant republic.
Become the benefactor granting continuation of the Nicholson Flag's legacy, maintaining living memory of our forebears' wartime sacrifices and peaceful progress. Usher this representative fragment of our storied emergence as one people united under the stars and stripes into a future as illuminated, reminding each new generation from whence we came and how far we've come as one indivisible nation.
Specifications
Type 20 Star Flag: July 4, 1818-July 3, 1819
Date 1818
Provenance Acquired in 2023 from Curtiss Belcher, Jr., last in line to inherit the flag passed down through generations from the Estate of PS Harkaway Captain George Nicholson.
Width of Hoist 40” (3’ 4”)
Type 20 Star Flag: July 4, 1818-July 3, 1819
Date 1818
Provenance Acquired in 2023 from Curtiss Belcher, Jr., last in line to inherit the flag passed down through generations from the Estate of PS Harkaway Captain George Nicholson.
Width of Hoist 40” (3’ 4”)
Length of Fly 68” (5’ 8”) Original length 72”, flag has been hemmed on fly end edge, in the textbook recommended method, to stifle deterioration
Stars 20, Cotton, double applique stars
Fabric Bunting wool
Framed No, Not currently framed, but a custom crafted framing with flag mounted below UV safe plexiglass is available upon request
Displayable No, Recommend display from within an appropriate UV-safe flag case, or mounted and framed under UV-safe plexiglass for wall hanging
Condition Good to Fair; for its age, usage and resulting wear, the Nicholson Flag is in good condition apart from the top of the header, where it has become disconnected by a few inches from the hoist. Wind-whipped wisps appear near corners, as do scattered tears and fine tatter which commensurate with age and weathered wear. Having flown over the rivers for many years, the Nicholson 20-Star Flag is in better overall condition than some.
Stars 20, Cotton, double applique stars
Fabric Bunting wool
Framed No, Not currently framed, but a custom crafted framing with flag mounted below UV safe plexiglass is available upon request
Displayable No, Recommend display from within an appropriate UV-safe flag case, or mounted and framed under UV-safe plexiglass for wall hanging
Condition Good to Fair; for its age, usage and resulting wear, the Nicholson Flag is in good condition apart from the top of the header, where it has become disconnected by a few inches from the hoist. Wind-whipped wisps appear near corners, as do scattered tears and fine tatter which commensurate with age and weathered wear. Having flown over the rivers for many years, the Nicholson 20-Star Flag is in better overall condition than some.
Download and save the flag documentation booklet!
In PDF format, this booklet contains 28 pages
of details and history of the flag, its provance, its siginificance and more.
of details and history of the flag, its provance, its siginificance and more.
Contains tons of information and further reading suggestions.
You can also access an index of 20 star American flags that we compiled of those we found on the internet - including complete details and links to the four other pre-Civil War flags known to exist.