Reference collection

Objects

Flags, rockets, identity papers, and prints. Material evidence can illuminate the war, but it must still be read critically.

Search this collection

6 records

Objects · Flag · Smithsonian

The Star-Spangled Banner

Fort McHenry’s great garrison flag

The enormous wool-and-cotton flag made in Mary Pickersgill’s household flew over Fort McHenry and later became a national relic.

Objects · Flag · 1813

Smaller foul-weather flag

A smaller flag was ordered with the great garrison flag for use in bad weather at Fort McHenry.

Objects · Weapon · British artillery

Rocket projectile and psychological weapon

British forces used Congreve rockets at Bladensburg and Baltimore, producing conspicuous trails, noise, and uncertain accuracy.

Objects · Identity paper · Maritime labor

Document carried to assert American citizenship

Protection certificates recorded personal characteristics intended to help American sailors resist impressment claims.

Objects · Battle flag · Lake Erie

Perry’s memorial signal

Perry used a blue flag bearing James Lawrence’s dying command during the Battle of Lake Erie.

Objects · Print · c. 1819

Early visual interpretation of the bombardment

John Bower’s hand-colored print presents bomb vessels, arcing shells, fortifications, and the harbor landscape several years after the event.