FORTISVEX 28 Star U.S. Flag 3x5 Feet Nylon - Made in USA with Brass Grommets

28 Star U.S. Flag History

The twenty-eight-star flag commemorates Texas joining the United States, but its dates require an important distinction. Texas became the twenty-eighth state on December 29, 1845. The official addition of its star occurred on July 4, 1846, and the twenty-eight-star period continued through July 3, 1847. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission documents the admission date. The later change to the flag follows the rule scheduling new stars for the next Independence Day.

Texas came into the Union after nearly a decade as an independent republic. Its leaders had pursued annexation before the successful negotiations of 1845, but the issue divided American politics. The State Library’s exhibit on the republic’s diplomatic papers describes the earlier annexation effort, its withdrawal, and the renewed campaign. Opposition in the United States was closely connected with the expansion of slavery. The twenty-eighth star therefore represents a consequential political decision, not merely a routine alteration to a decorative pattern.

In July 1845, a Texas convention considered the American annexation proposal and a Mexican peace proposal that depended on Texas remaining independent. The convention chose annexation. Texas voters then approved the annexation ordinance and a state constitution, and Congress accepted the state constitution in December. The formal transfer of government followed on February 19, 1846. As the State Library explains, that later ceremony does not change the legal statehood date of December 29. Admission, transfer of government, and addition of the flag’s star were three different milestones.

The twenty-eight-star constellation belongs to the national Stars and Stripes and should not be confused with the Lone Star flag of Texas. The thirteen stripes continue to recall the original states while the stars count the enlarged Union. This design fits the year between Florida’s twenty-seventh star and Iowa’s twenty-ninth. Iowa entered the Union on December 28, 1846, as recorded in the Senate’s Iowa timeline, but its flag change also waited until the following July. The twenty-eight-star flag consequently remained the official national pattern into 1847.

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