Crowdsourcing Old Glory – historic citizen designs for the US Flag

The first title released by new independent publishing house Atelier Éditions, titled Old Glory, features a selection of 50 unseen reproductions of alternate US flag designs submitted by American Citizens to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. When Hawaii and Alaska joined the US, the national flag had to be amended to incorporate two more stars to represent the new states. Over the period 1958-59, people from all over the US submitted unsolicited designs for the flag, all of which were archived by the administration.

Old Glory includes updated renderings of the original designs using, in a nod to the era’s printing methods, a four-colour lithographic process. Each submission is accompanied by the designer’s name and the state in which they lived. From subtle variations on the familiar theme to downright strange abstractions, the sometimes charmingly naive designs hark back to a time where national pride and patriotism was abundant.