Did you know? The 48-Star Flag
By Cody Berry
Did you know that during the Second World War, there were only 48 states? Well, there were, and at that time the American flag had 48 stars to represent them all. At the Gann Museum, we have a couple 48-star American flags in our new exhibit based on Arnold Wright’s book, My Country Called. As early as 1953, then President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his administration were considering how a new flag might look should Alaska and Hawaii join the Union. By September 1958, the White House staff decided it was time to select a new design.1
President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10798 on January 3, 1959, establishing the design of the 49-star flag after Alaska became the 49th state on the same day. That version of the flag was first raised over Fort McHenry National Historic Site that July 4. Hawaii joined the Union as the 50th state on August 21, 1959, and President Eisenhower issued another Executive Order establishing the current 50-star flag. The 50-star flag was raised at Fort McHenry on July 4, 1960.2 Some of the designs that were submitted of the 49 and 50-star flag are available on the Eisenhower Presidential Library website. Some are pretty complex but, in the end, they went with something as simple as adding more stars to the design we were already familiar with.
The larger of the two 48-star flags on display at the Gann Museum now was flown by the Smith-Caldwell Drug Store in Benton in the 1940’s. Despite being more than 80 years old, the flag is in very fine condition. However, there is some fading on the blue field where the stars are located. Smith-Caldwell was one of Saline County’s oldest businesses. When it closed its doors in August 2023, the business was reportedly 133 years old.3 Orlando Smith and W.C. Caldwell, who had been a pharmacist since 1895, went into business together after WWII in 1946.4
Citations:
1 Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. “Design of the 49-and 50-Star Flags,” National Archives, https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/design-49-and-50-star-flags, Date Accessed 9/2/2025.
2 Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. “Design of the 49-and 50-Star Flags,” National Archives, https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/design-49-and-50-star-flags, Date Accessed 9/2/2025.
Library of Congress, “Territories to Statehood, Alaska and Hawaii: Topics in Chronicling America,” https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-alaska-hawaii-territories, Date Accessed 9/2/2025.
3 Arkansas Money and Politics, “Smith-Caldwell Drug Store Closes Its Doors,” August 18, 2023, https://armoneyandpolitics.com/smith-caldwell-closes/, Date Accessed 9/2/2025.
4 Shelli Poole and Mark Smith, “Great Grandson tells the history of downtown Benton’s Smith-Caldwell Drugstore,” MySaline.com, https://www.mysaline.com/smith-caldwell-history/, Date Accessed 9/9/2025.