A patriotic American flag commemorating the national centennial of the United States. In the lead up to the hundredth anniversary (and facing no restrictions on which commemorative flags could be produced), individuals and flag makers alike created incredibly unique and varied celebrative designs. Once such difference between these centennial flags is the number of stars represented, as flags of the First Centennial featured three different total numbers of stars - thirty-seven (being the proper number of states at date of the centennial), thirty-eight (being added in honor of the imminent admission of Colorado in August 1876), and thirty-nine (being added by some with the expectation that two states would be added to the Union in the centennial year). (Boleslaw Mastai and Marie-Louise D'Otrange Mastai, The Stars and the Stripes: the American Flag as Art and as History from the Birth of the Republic to the Present (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), 1973. Page 156-161). The thirty-eight stars that form the date "1776" in this example likely honors Colorado's admission. The cantons from this period were particularly noteworthy, including a vast array of differing star patterns, yet few are as striking and scarce as in this example.