Shattered Liberty

The flag that flew over Fort McHenry in September 1814, the one Francis Scott Key saw at dawn, is not whole. Mary Pickersgill sewed it in Baltimore at 30 by 42 feet. Today it measures about 30 by 34.

For decades it belonged to the family of the fort's commander, George Armistead, who treated it the way families treated relics: they cut off pieces and gave them away. Nearly eight feet of the fly went out as souvenirs. Louisa Armistead cut out one of its fifteen stars and gave it away. Nobody knows to whom, and it has never been found. The family finally gave the flag to the Smithsonian with the gaps still in it.

A flag can lose pieces and stay the flag. That is the idea this picture is built on.

The stripes have broken into hard-edged shards of red and cream, separated by black gaps like cracked glass or torn paper, tilting in every direction. Hairline cracks run across several. The blue canton at upper left holds together better than the rest, with six cream stars still in place. The palette is muted, closer to old wool bunting than new nylon, and the black ground pushes the colors forward. It hangs well in a modern room with dark wood, concrete or steel.