05/29/2026
Just in time for & . . . the Ace Flag & Gift Shop team recently hung an 8'W x 12'L flag on the TR Site's Delaware Avenue facade.
If you count the stars, though, you might think something's "off". Ace Flag created the flag just for the TR Site, and it only has 45 stars . . . in 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated in Buffalo after the assassination of William McKinley, there were only 45 stars on the American flag. (*Bonus points for the first person to list the five *current* states that weren't-yet-states in the comments section.)
This new flag is a tribute to the 45-star flag that hung on the colonnade of the Wilcox home on September 14th, 1901 -- as TR was being inaugurated inside. Ace Flag will be returning later in the summer to install black mourning bunting to (largely) recreate the "look" of the home on that day -- as seen on the historic postcard from the TR Site's collection.
Our eagle-eyed followers will also notice that we're not recreating the 1901 "look" entirely. That's because the US Flag Code, which dictates the proper way to hang a flag, had not yet been adopted at the time of TR's inauguration. So, while it was not incorrect (in 1901) to hang the flag with the union (stars) to the viewer's right, the TR Site's flag has been hung with respect to current protocols.
We hope our visitors & followers will forgive us this deviation from historical accuracy.
