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47 Star Flag -unofficial- (U.S.)

Introduction
Variants

See also:

Introduction

It's clear that there's never been an official 47-stars flag of the United States. New Mexico became the 47th state on 6 January 1912, but since the United States only adopts new flags on the 4th of July, the addition of Arizona as the 48th state changed the number of stars again before a new flag was adopted.

Of course, for a new flag to be flown at the 4th of July flag, manufacturers have to make the flags before those are official. In some cases a state was added so close to the 4th of July, that manufacturers had already begun making flags that were never to be. But since Arizona gained statehood on 14 February 1912 this apparently did not happen for the 47 star flag.

The 47 star flag is a rare item. Still, it's not completely unique. Apparently some people did make such flags, what ever their reasons for doing so may have been. Doing some quick Internet research gave me the following list:

The Tularosa Basin Historical Society Museum has one such flag, with staggered rows of 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, and 7 stars.
The Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe has a 47-star flag.
Fort McHenry Monument and Historic Shine apparently also has such a flag.

As you can see, the publically know 47-star flags can be counted on the fingers of one hand. I only found a photograph of the first one, though, and I don't know the patterns of the stars on the other flags.

Most flags appear to be in or near New Mexico, which probably means they were made by people from New Mexico who wanted to demonstrate their pride in gaining statehood.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 September 2000

An incident occurred on Jan. 6, 1912, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when a telegraphed message arrived to confirm that statehood legislation had been signed, the Lt. Governor lowered the 46-star flag and raised a one-of-a-kind 47-star S&S, which he had sewn himself, at the Capitol.
Bill Dunning, 14 February 2007

Variants

8/8/8/8/8/7 variants

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory

An unofficial U.S. 47-star flag, size: 56" x 110". Star arrangement per row: 8/8/8/8/8/7. Auction house comment: "New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6th, 1912 and was followed by Arizona on February 14th. Per the Third Flag Act of 1818, Congress decreed that the official new year for the American flag was Independence Day, at which time a star would be added for each new state that had entered the Union over the preceding "flag year." Stars were thus added for the 47th and 48th states on July 4th, 1912. For this reason the 47 star count never became official and was accurate for a mere 38 days. .... The canton and stripes of the flag are made of wool bunting that has been pieced and joined with machine stitching. The stars are made of cotton and are double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) with a zigzag machine stitch. There is a sailcloth canvas sleeve along the hoist with two brass grommets."

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 11 June 2026

Source: https://historical.ha.com/itm/military-and-patriotic

Caption from ad: "A rare 47-star American flag measuring approximately 53-1/4" x 91", created circa 1912. The canton displays double-appliqué stars arranged in a pattern of 8/8/8/8/8/7. Constructed of machine-sewn wool bunting."
William Garrison, 11 June 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/157320928678

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology

8/8/8/8/8/7 star arrangement, rows aligned flush-left.
William Garrison, 21 March 2026

7/7/7/7/7/7/5 star arrangement

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory

7/7/7/7/7/7/5 star arrangement; size 17.25" x 24.5"

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

8/7/8/8/8/8 star arrangement

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://freemansauction.com

Size: 7"x2" silk flag. [documented in the book "The Stars and Stripes: Fabric of the American Spirit", Richard Pierce, LLC, 2005 (page 20).]

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

8/8/7/8/8/8 star arrangement

image located by William Garrison, 21 March 2026

Source: https://www.amazon.com/magFlags

William Garrison, 21 March 2026

8/8/8/8/7/8 variation

image located by William Garrison, 11 June 2026

Source: https://historical.ha.com/itm/military-and-patriotic

Caption from ad: "A large 47-star American flag measuring approximately 66" x 118", representing an anticipatory configuration produced in early 1912, following the admission of New Mexico on January 6 and prior to Arizona's statehood on February 14. No official 47-star flag was ever adopted, as the nation advanced directly from 46 to 48 stars on July 4, 1912. Constructed of machine-sewn wool bunting, the canton features 47 machine-sewn, double-appliqué cotton stars arranged in 8 horizontal rows of 8/8/8/8/7/8. The placement of the short 7-star row between the 8-star rows confirms that the 47-star count was intentional in its manufacture, rather than the result of a missing or removed star from a 48-star flag."

William Garrison, 11 June 2026

9/10/9/10/9 variation

image located by William Garrison, 11 June 2026

Source: https://historical.ha.com/itm/military-and-patriotic

Caption from ad: "A 47-star American flag measuring approximately 108" x 147", representing an anticipatory configuration produced in early 1912, following the admission of New Mexico on January 6 and prior to Arizona's statehood on February 14. No official 47-star flag was ever adopted, as the nation advanced directly from 46 to 48 stars on July 4, 1912. Constructed with machine-sewn cotton stripes, the canton features machine-sewn, single-appliqué "peek-a-boo" cotton stars arranged in five horizontal rows of 9/10/9/10/9. While flags with 9-star rows are rarely encountered, this flag even features 10-star rows. And the fact that these rows are made of single-appliqué "peek-a-boo" stars, that cannot be simply added or removed, strongly supports that the flag was purposely produced as a 47-star example, rather than altered from another star count."

William Garrison, 11 June 2026