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A
silhouette of Louisa Hughes Armistead circa 1800.
Courtesy Fort McHenry National Monument, National Park
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On Lieutenant Colonel Armistead's death in 1818, the Star-Spangled Banner passed
to his widow, Louisa Hughes Armistead. For nearly forty years,
Louisa Armistead kept it in her Baltimore home. She made several
alterations to the flag. Occasionally she allowed it to be displayed
for patriotic events. She lent both the flag and her late husband's
silver service for display at a reception for Revolutionary
hero General Lafayette at Fort McHenry in 1824. She also lent
the flag for a celebration by the Old Defenders of the Battle
of Fort McHenry's 25th anniversary in 1839.
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| National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution |
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Louisa Armistead sewed the red chevron on one of the flag's white stripes.
According to her daughter, she intended it to be the letter
A, probably for "Armistead."
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| National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution |
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What happened to the missing star on the Star-Spangled Banner? Many have described it as having been carried away by British shot. But according to Georgiana Armistead Appleton, her mother, Louisa, cut it out to present it to "some official person."
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