Greg,

Thanks for your input. I have only been working with flags for a
little over a year so am no expert but I have 25+ years as an
historic buildings specialist and am usually pretty good at looking
for details, similar and different. From observation of the photos
in Echoes, it sure looks to me like both flags were from the same
source. I also know that bona-fide documentation is the only
reliable source of information and even that needs to be verified as
much as possible. And then there's the difference in Howard's
description of the same flags between the older Flags book and the
FOTC web page that you quoted.

The commission inquiry that started this all for me has become moot
as the client couldn't afford a reproduction of the 2nd National flag
but has opted instead for the smaller 1st National that is attributed
to the 32nd AL. I'm still interested though in discussion about
these flags as I never know when the knowledge might be useful for a
future inquiry.
++

Jeff