Mending the Flag by Norman Rockwell

May 27, 1922 Issue of The Literary Digest

This illustration was Rockwell's thirty-seventh picture featured on the cover of The Literary Digest.

The Digest featured Rockwell artwork on the cover nine times just in 1922.

Mending the Flag

With this image, Rockwell evokes familiar patriotic feelings.

This was Rockwell's Memorial Day cover for 1922. It was published on the Saturday before Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, 1922.

This painting alludes to Betsy Ross who was the most famous seamstress of the American Flag. The flag pictured here, however, has its stars in horizontal rows, instead of in a circle. Rockwell was not attempting to paint Betsy Ross because he was a stickler for detail. Had he meant to paint Betsy Ross, the flag would have been authentic. Rockwell would have commissioned a seamstress to sew an authentic early American flag if necessary.

This seamstress appears to be mending the gold fringe on this American flag.

On the table is a soldier's hat propped on top of her sewing box. The hat appears to be a keepsake from an earlier war.

Rockwell also gives us an insight into the seamstress. At the top of the painting, we can see the cage for her pet bird. Both bird and owner are enjoying the sunshine streaming through the window...
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