Once-Largest American Flag, Sewn by Anchor Tents, Has Eventful History

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Birth of Great American Flag 
As the project progressed, Silverfine said that Anchor shared a unique situation with him, "The foreman then told me of the peculiar labor problems he was encountering in his plant of 250 workers. Because only one sewing machine could be used the flag crew was necessarily limited to a handful of workers; yet, every Anchor employee wanted to play a part. At the change of work shifts, the employees would form outside his office to request work on the flag, some with tears offering to work for free. If you were to open up the flag’s seams, you would see names of workers and their families surreptitiously sewn in with enormous pride."
 
Flag Unfurled at Evansville Airport
On March 22, 1980, the Flag was unfurled for the first time on a runway at Evansville’s airport. The city was invited to come and see the incredible flag, measuring 411 feet by 210 feet -- the biggest flag ever created at the time.
 
Flag Day at the Washington Monument
On Flag Day 1980, the flag was displayed at the base of the Washington Monument. Len was shy of the 90 volunteers needed to lay the flag out, so he recruited people from the line waiting to tour the monument. Over 200 people accepted the invitation to help with the 90-minute chore. In the winter of 1980, the American hostages that had been held in Iran were released and the flag was placed on the tarmac at Andrews Air force Base as a welcome home to the hostages.
 
Display at Central Park, New York City and the Earlier Nineties
The next stop was Central Park in New York on June 18, 1981, at a ceremony that featured Liz Taylor. The event was meant to be a fundraiser, but little money was raised and the expenses of maintaining the flag were not being met. Len finally decided to give the flag to the U.S. government with the stipulation that it be displayed every flag day. It was displayed for a ceremony in which President Ronald Reagan accepted the gift on Flag Day 1983. After that, the flag and its truck were placed in a warehouse and years passed without another public showing.
 
As Operation Dessert Storm came to an end in 1991, one of the Anchor employees that had helped sew the flag together suggested that it would be a great idea to display the flag as a homecoming for the American soldiers.
 
A Return Trip back to Washington DC
Len was also working on getting the flag out of retirement for a Flag Day display. The Evansville Freedom Festival was convinced to tie the display in with the traditional Flag Day opening ceremony and it was arranged for a news crew to send a feed from Washington back to Evansville via satellite. The giant flag was the center of attention. After the ceremony, the flag was put back in the truck and has not been displayed in DC since then.
 
Recent History: Remembering United Flight #93
The flag was regifted to a space museum in Kansas and when the museum determined that the flag was more than they could handle, they sold it on July 4, 2001 on eBay for $12,500. It was purchased by Ted Dorfman who displayed it in Pennsylvania. Dorfman shared the reason for the display in 2001: "United #93 went down in a field just miles from where we live. We thought it appropriate to honor the victims by displaying the great flag nearby. The whole town and fire department pitched in. The flag is in great shape... we intend to take good care of it."