Flag Error?

I have collected stamps off and on for many years, and wonder if a stamp has the wrong number of stripes is that an error? In question is Scott #1281-2 series which appears to have 11 stripes and Scott #1597 which appears to have 14 stripes. I know they won't be valuable as millions were printed, but just curious.

1597 pictures the Fort McHenry flag, which is supposed to have 15 stripes on it (check the history of the flag for an explanation). The top and bottom stripes are red. Since the background is white, if one was left off it would appear to have 13 stripes. I'm not sure how you have 14...perhaps you miscounted, they are pretty small.

1281 and 1282 don't have flags on them at all...they have Francis Parkman and Abe Lincoln. Maybe that is a typo and really should be a different number.

Wow, now that is why I hoard stamps. I would never have known that about the Ft. McHenry stamp so now I have some history to study. The other stamps, (I don't know how I got the numbers so mixed up) are

32¢ "G" Old Glory Scott 2881 • 1994

32¢ "G" Old Glory Scott 2882 • 1994

and the other colors they were printed.

Stamps are the most interesting way to study history.

Thank you so much for the info

Yep...that whole series of stamps (and there were quite a few) appears to have 11 stripes. I never noticed it before...never counted. I have no explanation for it. It's not an error, at least not an error in the printing of stamps themselves, but it does appear to be an error as far as the flag itself is concerned (but it would affect all of the stamps in the series). Maybe some underpaid bureaucrat thought it made a better picture.

Afterthought: It's an illusion based on the way the flag is waving. Count along the right end of the flag...if you count all the "that almost looks like a stripe" places, you will come up with 13 stripes. It's not very plain in the best circumstances.