Vintage American Flag, 13-Star Cowpens Banner, circa 1940, WWII Era

Description

Presented is a machine-sewn Cowpens flag, or 3rd Maryland flag, from the 1940s The white stars are arranged in a circle on a blue field; the circle consists of 12 stars, with the large 13th star in the center. The 13 star canton and 3 red and white stripes of this flag were machine sewn.
The Cowpens pattern dates to the Revolutionary War. At the start of 1781, American hopes were at a low point, exhausted and stretched thin from the stress of the Revolution. That changed, however, on January 17, when General Daniel Morgan won one of the most brilliant victories of the Revolutionary War at Cowpens, South Carolina. With the help of Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia regiments, Morgan stopped the attacking British dead in their tracks. Trapped by the cavalry and the militia, the surrounded British soon relented. This flag of the Third Maryland Regiment, which was present that day at Cowpens, is now enshrined in the State Capitol in Annapolis, Maryland in honor of that battle. The design for that flag was the inspiration for this patriotic banner, which dates to the 1940s.