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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Ellen Roosevelt's Ice Yacht Signal Pennant
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Ellen Roosevelt's Ice Yacht Signal Pennant

Object numberMO 1942.210.1
Name Flag, Signal
Maker (American flagmakers, founded 1847)
Dateca. 1887-1902
Mediumfabric, thread, metal (brass), ink
Dimensionsoverall H 16 in x W 24 in (40.6 cm x 61 cm )
DescriptionThe personal ice yacht signal pennant of Ellen Roosevelt. Sewn onto the blue fabric field of the swallowtail pennant are nine white fabric birds in flight. On the left edge of the flag is a white canvas header with brass grommets at the top and bottom. Stenciled in ink on the header is the manufacturer's name: ANNIN & CO. N.Y.
Label TextAs a youth, Franklin D. Roosevelt participated in a variety of sports. During the winter months he skated and sledded at Springwood. He also pursued a daring, high-speed sport on the Hudson River—ice boating.

Ice boating involves catamaran-like sailing vessels that race across frozen rivers or lakes at speeds that can exceed 80 miles an hour. A popular winter sport on the Hudson during Roosevelt’s youth, it is still pursued by enthusiasts today.

FDR's mother gave him his own ice boat, the HAWK, while he was a student at Harvard College. He enjoyed the excitement of ice boating and was an officer of the Hyde Park Ice Boat Club. Later, he included ice boating materials among the items he preserved in his Library, one example being this ice yacht signal pennant given to him by his first cousin, Ellen Roosevelt (1868-1954), to whom it belonged. Ellen's father, John Aspinwall Roosevelt (FDR's uncle), was the first Commodore of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club and owned the ice yacht ICICLE.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteInitially lent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 3, 1942. Deposited at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 8, 1942. It was donated as a bequest of FDR to the Library in 1947.
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesPersonal Possessions of the Roosevelt Family (National Archives Identifier 782689)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
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