Why is there a large hole in the original "Star Spangled Banner" flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired the US national anthem?

A: Greetings: It has been some time since I received this message but thought I'd put in my two cent's worth. We really don't know much of the history of the Star Spangled Banner between 1814 and when it was photographed for George Preble's pamphlet "Three Historic Flags and Three September Victories." This photo is reproduced at the Smithsonian's web site: www. si.edu/nmah/objects/krtssb/ssbh/ssbh.htm

It was taken at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston in the 1870s. You can see that the large hole encompassing one of the stars was missing, as was much of the flags fly end. Legend says that Lincoln was given the star, and that Armistead gave away pieces of the flag to settle gambling debts.

While Francis Scott Key's song was known to most Americans by the end of the Civil War, the flag that inspired it remained an Armistead family keepsake. It was exhibited occasionally at patriotic gatherings in Baltimore but largely unknown outside of that city until the 1870s. The flag remained the private property of Lieutenant Colonel Armistead's widow, Louisa Armistead, his daughter Georgiana Armistead Appleton, and his grandson Eben Appleton for 90 years. During that time, the increasing popularity of Key's anthem and the American public's developing sense of national heritage transformed the Star-Spangled Banner from a family keepsake into a national treasure.

The Armistead family gave snippings of the flag away as souvenirs and gifts over time.

One of the stars were cut out to give to a veteran.