11-STAR CONFEDERATE SILK BIBLE FLAG, MADE BY ALICE RYDER, CA. 1861–1862

A rare Confederate silk Bible flag, hand-stitched and embroidered with eleven stars in the canton, marked in the center bar with the inscription: “Made by Alice Ryder. / This was made during / the Civil War.” The flag measures approximately 7 x 3 ½ inches, now framed to 14 ½ x 11 ½ inches.

Constructed in the style of the First National Confederate flag, the field is composed of three horizontal stripes—red, white, and red—executed in fine silk. Diverging from standard examples, the canton is worked in white silk rather than blue, and contains eleven embroidered stars arranged in a circular pattern with one centered star. The stars are each meticulously stitched by hand.

So-called "Bible flags" such as the example offered here were deeply personal wartime artifacts, most often sewn by wives, sisters, or sweethearts and carried by Confederate soldiers inside their Bibles as reminders of home and of the cause for which they served. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Flags, Patriotic Textiles]