Collections manager Michelle Moskal, right, and curator Mark Turdo hang the Commander-in-Chief's Standard Wednesday at an exhibition gallery in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. The flag marked General George Washington's presence on the battlefield during the war.

PHILADELPHIA — George Washington’s personal Revolutionary War headquarters flag is on display at Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution.

The faded and fragile blue silk flag marked Washington’s presence on the battlefield during the war, and its appearance at the museum is the flag’s first public display in Philadelphia since the war.

The museum is bringing the flag, known as the Commander-in-Chief’s Standard, out of its archives for viewing through Sunday.

It features 13 white stars on a blue background.

“Revolutionary Americans adopted various symbols to represent the new republic that they created after the Declaration of Independence,” said R. Scott Stephenson, vice president of collections, exhibitions and programs for the museum. “Washington’s Standard includes a blue field with 13 white stars representing a new constellation, which Congress adopted in 1777 as a component of the now familiar `Star-Spangled Banner.”’

In the early 20th century, descendants of Washington’s sister, Betty Washington Lewis, donated the flag to the Valley Forge Historical Society. The society transferred the collection to the museum in 2003.

In the museum’s main exhibition, visitors can view two other rare, Revolutionary-era flags. The Monmouth Flag dates to about 1775. It still has the British Union in the corner.

The Forster Flag may be one of the earliest flags to have been altered after the Declaration of Independence. It is clear that the British Union was removed.