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This is the Star Spangled Banner, the one that inspired the national anthem. You probably recognize it by the V sewn into the fabric (what that means is still a matter of dispute). After the Battle of Baltimore, it somehow found its way into the hands of the Armistead family. For a century, before they ultimately donated it to the Smithsonian.

It is positively huge at 30 feet by 42 feet, though you can see in the picture where about ten feet of it have been nibbled off the bottom. The Armisteads gave pieces of it away as gifts (which sometimes float back onto the market).

When the Smithsonian built the Museum of History and Technology in 1964, they created a special atrium called the Flag Hall, a three story showcase specifically to show off this flag. Since renamed the Museum of American History.

By the Eighties, they were worrying about light and dust damage and they built a curtain in front of it which they’d lower twice an hour for a moment or two.

The important thing is, I didn’t know any of this.

For several years after I got a corporate gig, I’d spend a week at the Smithsonian. I love museums, these ones are wonderful and free, all I had to spend was for transportation and hotel. Loved it. First time was probably 1984.

I was walking across the atrium of the Museum of American History. There was a boom and a creak and the national anthem began to pour out of the speakers while they cranked down that big curtain until I found myself standing face to face with the actual goddamned Star Spangled Banner.

My friends, I’m a sucker for anthems and symbols and oaths and all things jingoistic. I was floored. Paralyzed with astonishment. Gobsmacked. I don’t expect to be that stunned again unless I get hit by a bus, walk straight into the light and shake hands with Jesus.

I consider myself lucky I didn’t throw up or pee my pants right there in the Smithsonian Institute.

Anyway, they’ve since spent 10 years and $21 million on a restoration project and it’s back on display. I haven’t seen it, but it’s apparently in the flag atrium on display at a slight angle in a controlled environment. I haven’t seen it since.