Broad Stripes Bright Stars: A Graphic History Celebrating 250 Years of America's Icons -- Kit Hinrichs, Hardcover

Broad Stripes, Bright Stars is a look book of our most cherished American icons --the Flag, the Eagle, Uncle Sam, and Lady Liberty--through hundreds of patriotic objects created during the past two and a half centuries, and how these permeated the lives of Americans.

The chapters are based on Kit Hinrich's collection of over 7,500 flags and flag memorabilia, assembled over the past 50 years. The book looks historically at the flag from several points of view: Celebration, Conflict, Politics, Business and Memorabilia, which collectively weave a rich visual tapestry that defines the American Spirit during its first 250 years.

The collection includes Native American crafts such as handmade quilts and Navajo weavings, children's and adult's toys and games, retail marketing, folk & fine art, postal imagery including Civil War envelopes, political/propaganda posters, personal adornment, sports, and much more. Many handcrafted and one-of-a-kind objects will be published for the first time. The text not only illuminates the objects themselves but is filled with little-known historical facts and myths.

The book includes a guide to the 27 official flags and the dates the states joined the union, plus the presidents that served under them.

Author: Kit Hinrichs
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Published: 10/28/2025
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.25lbs
Size: 12.25h x 9.25w x 1.16d
ISBN: 9798881600204

About the Author
Kit Hinrichs served as principal in several design offices in New York and San Francisco and spent twenty-three years as a partner of Pentagram before opening Studio Hinrichs in 2009. His design experience incorporates a wide range of projects, including brand development, promotion, packaging, environmental graphics, editorial, and exhibition design. He is also a noted American flag collector and founder of the Stars & Stripes Foundation.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Museums of Modern Art, New York and San Francisco, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Denver Museum of Design and Letterform Archive. In addition to Narrative Design, he is the co-author of five books, including Typewise, Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag and The Pentagram Papers.

Kit co-founded the magazine @issue: The Journal of Business and Design, chaired the AIGA California Show, and co-chaired the AGI San Francisco Congress. He is a recipient of the prestigious AIGA medal and a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale. Recently, he was commissioned to design an American Flag exhibit, titled Broad Stripes/Bright Stars at the Nevada Museum of Art and a major new American flag book, with the same title for Andrews McMeel Publishing, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.