Flag
The National 9/11 Flag
- Description
- Large American flag, torn and tattered, that once hung on 90 West Street across from Ground Zero. The flag was mended using various smaller American flags and hand stitching to cover holes and tears. The smaller flags were salvaged from a variety of natural disasters across the country over the course of six years.
- Historical Notes
- Soon after September 11, 2001, a large American flag was hung on the facade of a building across from the World Trade Center site. In late October, Charles Vitchers, a construction superintendent, noticing the flag growing dirty and tattered, asked ironworkers to take it down. Seven years passed before a plan for its restoration arose.
By then, Vitchers had become involved with the New York Says Thank You Foundation, a charity established by New Yorker Jeff Parness to repay the support the city had received after 9/11. In 2003, foundation volunteers started an annual practice of helping rebuild communities devastated by disaster. Vitchers carried the flag in September 2008 to Greensburg, Kansas, which had been nearly destroyed in a tornado. Greensburg residents began to repair the flag with their own storm-damaged flags. Thus began a nationwide journey of restoration for both the flag and participating communities.
By the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the foundation had taken the flag to all 50 states. In each state, threads or patches from decommissioned American flags were stitched into the flag. The flag was also brought to particular locations for display, among them Shanksville, Pennsylvania, near the Flight 93 crash site. Now known as the National 9/11 Flag, this artifact reflects the resilience of an entire nation.
Curator's Comment
Major sites where stitching ceremonies took place:
Baltimore, Maryland
June 14, 2012
Three red threads from the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” were sewn into the National 9/11 Flag on Flag Day in 2012.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
December 7, 2010
On the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, members of the U.S. military, New York City firefighters, Boy Scouts, and residents of Hawaii participated in a stitching ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, the naval ship on which Japan formally surrendered at the end of World War II.
Baton Rouge and Slidell, Louisiana
April 15–17, 2011
Stitching ceremonies were held in Slidell, Louisiana, a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in Baton Rouge, the state capital, which had become a refuge for many displaced by the storm.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
April 19, 2011
On the anniversary of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, New York Says Thank You took the flag to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The ceremony reinforced the bond of shared experience between Oklahoma City and New York City.
Milford, Pennsylvania
February 12, 2011
Blue wool from a flag that hung at Ford’s Theatre on the evening of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was sewn into the National 9/11 Flag on Lincoln’s birthday. A red patch created, in part, from a flag that flew over the Flight 93 crash site was also added in Milford.
Greensburg, Kansas
May 27–29, 2011
In 2008, volunteers in Greensburg began making repairs to the flag. For Memorial Day weekend in 2011, New York Says Thank You returned to Greensburg for a stitching ceremony that helped transform the earlier patchwork repairs into a recognizable flag.
Washington, D.C.
July 14, 2011
Stitches were added to the flag in a ceremony attended by 9/11 family members and first responders. Participants then sang "God Bless America" on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, mirroring the actions of members of Congress who sang the song there on the evening of September 11, 2001.
Baltimore, Maryland
June 14, 2012
Three red threads from the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” were sewn into the National 9/11 Flag on Flag Day in 2012.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
December 7, 2010
On the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, members of the U.S. military, New York City firefighters, Boy Scouts, and residents of Hawaii participated in a stitching ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, the naval ship on which Japan formally surrendered at the end of World War II.
Baton Rouge and Slidell, Louisiana
April 15–17, 2011
Stitching ceremonies were held in Slidell, Louisiana, a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in Baton Rouge, the state capital, which had become a refuge for many displaced by the storm.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
April 19, 2011
On the anniversary of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, New York Says Thank You took the flag to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The ceremony reinforced the bond of shared experience between Oklahoma City and New York City.
Milford, Pennsylvania
February 12, 2011
Blue wool from a flag that hung at Ford’s Theatre on the evening of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was sewn into the National 9/11 Flag on Lincoln’s birthday. A red patch created, in part, from a flag that flew over the Flight 93 crash site was also added in Milford.
Greensburg, Kansas
May 27–29, 2011
In 2008, volunteers in Greensburg began making repairs to the flag. For Memorial Day weekend in 2011, New York Says Thank You returned to Greensburg for a stitching ceremony that helped transform the earlier patchwork repairs into a recognizable flag.
Washington, D.C.
July 14, 2011
Stitches were added to the flag in a ceremony attended by 9/11 family members and first responders. Participants then sang "God Bless America" on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, mirroring the actions of members of Congress who sang the song there on the evening of September 11, 2001.
- Accession Number: C.2015.64.1
- Dimensions: 20 ft X 30.5 ft
- Dimensions (Metric): 50.8 cm X 77.47 cm
- Source: New York Says Thank You Foundation
- Credit Line: The National 9/11 Flag was restored and donated by New York Says Thank You Foundation thanks to the generous support of KPMG LLP and KPMG Foundation, Edelman, SF Foundation as well as ABNY Foundation, Mutual of America, Jonathan M. Tisch, Nucor, 5Linx, White House Foods, Dentons US LLP, Charles A. Barragato & Co., friends of David Brady, and firefighters from the FDNY, Slidell, Louisiana, and Utica, Illinois who volunteered their time to escort the flag on its 50-state restoration.
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