The elation brought by the conclusion of the Civil War was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.  President Lincoln, the Great Emancipator who had guided the nation through its most turbulent time, was dead.  As is the custom in time of national tragedy, Americans rushed to buy and display Flags.  Black boarders were sewn around many Flags as a sign of mourning.

A couple of original Lincoln Mourning Flags still exist in private collections.

Sources:

National Museum of American History “The Long and Final Ride” Smithsonian. Retrieved 9 July 2026 from https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/american-presidency/online/life-and-death/death-mourning/lincoln/final-ride

Unknown “Mourning Flag” (1865) Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection https://www.lincolncollection.org/collection/categories/item/?cat=21&page=4&item=78726

Zaricor Flag Collection “36 Star ‘Grand Luminary’ Lincoln Mourning Flag” (1865) https://www.flagcollection.com/itemdetails.php?CollectionItem_ID=427

 Zaricor Flag Collection “Abraham Lincoln: A Nation Mourns and Remembers, 1865” Retrieved 9 July 2026 from https://www.flagcollection.com/tour_listview.php?CollectionTour_Code=vip_abrahamlincoln