Completing the Washington Standard Project

The Museum's Washington Standard Project set out to recreate General George Washington’s headquarters flag, which is part of the Museum’s collection and is said to have marked his presence during the Revolutionary War.

Now, thanks to textile conservator Virginia Whelan, the replica of Washington's Standard is complete.

Whelan worked on the conservation of George Washington’s War Tent and the original Standard, both of which are in the collection of the Museum. Whelan studied the original Standard to better understand its creation techniques and construction. With the woven and dyed blue silk in hand, Whelan used the knowledge she gained from conserving the original to construct the replica. She added a linen “hoist” along one edge, which would have been used to attach the flag to a staff, and sewed on the 13 white, six-pointed silk stars. These stars are appliqued (sewn along the edges) to one side of the fabric, and then the original maker turned the flag over, cut out the inside shape of the star on the other side, and carefully turned and stitched sewed the blue fabric down on that side, revealing the back of the white star.

Now that the replica flag is complete, it will be used as a teaching tool at the Museum throughout the year and a part of our travelling First Oval Office Project program.