Flag, District of Columbia, Apollo 11

This small flag of the District of Columbia is part of a set of three small flags carried aboard the Apollo 11 flight by Michael Collins in his Personal Preference Kit, so named because all astronauts were permitted one small bag for personal or small items of significance they wished to carry into space. On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the lunar surface while Collins orbited the Moon in the Apollo 11 command module.

When Collins became the director of the National Air and Space Museum, he loaned this flag to the Museum for display in the "Apollo to the Moon" gallery. He gave the flag to the National Collection as a permanent donation in 1984.