48-star U.S. Navy “Jack No. 7” wool flag. 48 x 33 in. With 4 red ribbon ties. Following stenciled in black along the hoist: “Jack No.7 Mare Island April 1920.” 

A United States Navy jack with 48 machine-stitched cotton stars made in 1920, following World War I, at Mare Island, California. The American Navy jack was designed to reflect the canton of the national flag, taking inspiration from the design and implementation of the British Navy’s “Union Jack.” A flag like this would have been flown at the bow when at anchor or moored and furled when underway. 

Mare Island is a peninsula in California that is home to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, a Navy base 23 miles northeast of San Francisco. It served as a principal seat of the U.S. Navy’s defense, starting in the mid-19th century when Commodore John Drake Sloat led a survey party to find a site for the nation’s first Pacific naval installation. The Navy ended up purchasing Mare Island in July 1852 and opened the facility on 16 September 1854 under the command of Commodore David G. Farragut. 

Around the time of this flag’s creation, Mare Island was beginning to focus more on underwater warfare after the conclusion of World War I; it established a submarine program in the early 1920s. 

While a handful of jacks like this have been sold at auction from the World War II-era, none could be found like this flag that have been previously sold, making it a one-of-a-kind piece. 

[World War I, WWI, The Great War, First World War] [Flags, Patriotic Textiles] 

Minor rip in middle of flag.