Remembering World War I and II Service Banners and the 'Home Front'

Sheet music, "Our Service Flag: A Blue Start 
Turned to Gold," 1920, Library of Congress.

Over the years at Spicer Art Conservation, we have seen many types of service banners or service flags that were meant to be displayed by service members' families. First used during World War I, the banner was designed and patented in 1917 by U.S. Army Captain Robert L. Queisser of the Fifth Ohio Infantry, in honor of his two sons who were serving in that war. With subsequent use, their design and sizes were standardized and codified.

The flag or banner is officially defined as a white field with a red border, with a blue star for each family member serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities. A gold star with a blue edge represents a family member who died during Military Operations. This includes those who lost their lives during World War I, World War II, or during any subsequent period of armed hostilities in which the United States was engaged before July 1, 1958, or those who lost their lives after June 30, 1958:

• while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;

• while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

• while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party against an opposing armed force;

or those who lost their lives after March 28, 1973, as a result of:

• an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of Defense; or

• military operations while serving outside the United States (including the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States) as part of a peacekeeping force. [1]

A personal banner, often placed in a window. The
blue star signifies one family member serving in
the Armed Forces. Should the family member
die in service, the family had the right to replace
the blue star with a gold one.The size of this banner
needed to be the same size ratio as the American flag.



The Gold Star Mother designation originally started in 1928 
by Grace Darling Seibold to recognize mothers who lost 
sons in WWI. The last Sunday in September is observed 
as Gold Star Mother's Day. Above, Gold Star Mother's 
Day at Arlington National Cemetery in 1936.

These banners were widely distributed in the home front, but lost favor during the Vietnam War. There has been a resurgence in their use since the first Gulf War. For example, the Silver Star is a tradition begun in 2004, marking service personnel who were wounded.

A 1918 Service flag, presented to Mills County by Glenwood
Lodge No. 43, Knights of Pythias
Many organizational banners were personalized
with the names of their members and, thus, can be very large.

WWII banner for Navy service. The printed design is
'flocked'. It still has its wooden rod with cord and tassels

WWII Banner from the West Side Rowing Club,
Buffalo, NY

The idea of commemorating members of a group has a tradition with GAR roll of honor as a means to honor valor and bravery of members.

GAR Roll of Honor with 18 names

Names are printed onto cardboard and attached to
fabric with a ribbon

Notes and Resources

[1] Wikipedia, "Service Flag," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag, accessed January 12, 2019.

CRW Flags, "Service Flags (U.S.)," https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us%5Esvc.html, accessed January 12, 2019.

"The Service Flag of the United States," http://www.usflag.org/history/serviceflag.html, accessed January 12, 2019.

A Printed Pillow Sham and the Mexican Border Service of 1916

by Gwen Spicer, Barbara Owens, and David Fitzjarrald

A client recently brought in a unique heirloom; a printed satin pillow sham with a portrait of a beautiful young woman wearing a sombrero and smoking a cigarette. Colored highlights of red, blue and yellow were painted into the design. Attached to the perimeter was an intricate and wide cotton fringe. Located on the lower proper right corner is "Mexican Border Service, 1916" painted in red. The construction of the pillow sham was quite simple, with one row of machine-stitching that secured all of the layers and the fringe together.

The silk satin had been folded while it was stored and this long-term folding had resulted in several vertical tears that were present across the woman's face.

The 100 year old pillow sham as it arrived at Spicer Art Conservation for stabilization and archival mounting and framing. 

As work began, we began to wonder about the message. What was going on at the Mexican border in 1916? With a bit of investigation, it became apparent that a hundred years ago, there was conflict at the border that included a dictator, southern migration for cheap labor, a revolution, an invasion of the United States by Pancho Villa, and the first taste of combat for a young U.S. Army lieutenant named George S. Patton.

The pillow sham after treatment. The tears are stabilized, the creases are removed, fringe cleaned and straightened,
and the pillow case is mounted with archival materials and placed in a sealed frame with UV filtering Plexiglas.

This pillow sham was a souvenir for soldiers involved in the Mexican Expedition. In fact, pillow shams have been a popular item for soldier to send home during war or service. This is a more personal type of souvenir, one that was different from embroidered commemorative "trapunto" textiles brought back from the voyage of the "Great White Fleet" in World War I.  

Pancho Villa (1878-1923) was a famed Mexican revolutionary and guerilla leader. 

So why was there a conflict at the Mexican Border in 1916?  Several things were happening; and it starts with the Mexican Revolution.

Pancho Villa may be a familiar name if you know about the Mexican Revolution. Villa joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Mexican President Porfirio Diaz in 1909, and he later became leader of the Division del Norte cavalry, then governor of Chihuahua. According to Wikipedia, trouble between the United States and Pancho Villa had been growing since October of 1915, when the US government officially recognized Villa's rival and former ally Venustiano Carranza as head of Mexico's government. Moreover, the U.S. provided rail transportation through the U.S. from Texas to Arizona for the movement of over 5,000 of Carranza'a forces to fight Villa at the Battle of Aqua Prieta; where Villa's Division del Norte was smashed. Villa felt betrayed and began to attack U.S. nationals and their property.

Villa killed more than 30 Americans in a raid on the U.S.-Mexican border town of Columbus, New Mexico in March of 1916. In response, the U.S. government sent General John J. Pershing and his troops to enter Mexican sovereign territory and capture Villa (Pancho Villa Expedition, later named the Mexican Expedition). Pershing was unsuccessful and Villa proved elusive during an 11-month manhunt.

1916 cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman, via National Archive Berryman colletion This media is available in the holdings of the
 National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 306154.

But it wasn't just the Revolution that was going on; in fact something larger was on the horizon. The U.S.-Mexico border was a potential location for a German-backed invasion by Mexico. The threat of such an invasion was discovered in January of 1917 when the British intercepted and deciphered the Zimmerman Telegram, discussing Germany's proposal to Mexico to form an alliance with Germany should the U.S. enter World War I. In March of 1917 the contents of the telegram were made public and affirmed by Zimmerman himself. The Mexican Expedition ended when the United States entered World War I (the U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917) and Pershing was recalled.

As an interesting side note, who happened to be serving under General Pershing? None other than a young lieutenant George S. Patton. There is a strange coincidence for us here at Spicer Art Conservation as we had recently conserved several items from the collection of the George S. Patton Museum of Leadership. We of course wondered, is there a pillow case among Patton's personal items from his service at the border?

We also discovered that a pillow sham is a common souvenir that was not only sent home to loved ones by service men, but it was also received by them as well. And, it is just as common today as it was one hundred years ago.

Examples of military souvenir pillow cases

At Spicer Art Conservation we conserve historic textiles and artifacts. Whether it is a military uniform, a historic flag or banner, a tablecloth or quilt from your Aunt Sally, or General George Patton's famous Green Hornet Uniform, it is conserved with care and professional exacting standards. Visit our website and check out our textiles page for more about previous projects and artifacts we treat at Spicer Art.
_____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice. Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper. Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled. To contact her, please visit her website.

Flags of the United States Colored Troops

While flag day probably conjures up images of our National Flag, perhaps it is also a day to shed some light on the rich history of flags created for military regiments, namely the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

A few years ago Spicer Art Conservation treated an unusual National Flag from the 4th United States Colored Troops (USCT) belonging to the Maryland Historical Society. The treatment was the topic of a presentation and paper given at the August 1-5, 2011 Washington Flag Congress. [The concurrence of the 45th annual meeting of North American Vexillological Association & the 24 International Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Associations Vexillologiques ]. The 4th USCT is a spectacular flag with a double sided canton. The flag, composed of silk and hand painted on both sides, had many areas of tearing and shattering. Following treatment the flag was to be mounted with a window on the reverse side to view the obverse of the canton.

The 4th USCT of Maryland before treatment

Treatment of the 4th USCT flag sparked interest in knowing the whereabouts of other surviving flags of colored troops. African American men fought in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Spanish American War; however, these men were not limited to segregated units. The USCT only refers to the troops serving in the Civil War conflict and the Regular Army’s segregated troops that were created in the wake of the success of the USCT. It is not until 1954 when the formal desegregation of the armed forces was completed with the abolishment of the last segregated unit in the wake of President Truman’s 1948 Executive Order 9981.

And while each Civil War unit had their own flags, it is the USCT flags are special because of the individual and unique sentiments often expressed on them, often stylized to represent the unit and what it was fighting for. Many of these flags were hand made and painted by the community from which the unit came. Many of the flags featured a different image on each side.

Their are few flags of the USCT that remain. The New York Military Museum has two from the 26th NY regiment, others are in historic societies or belong to the state from which the regiment originated. But mysteriously, there are several other flags that are mentioned as existing, yet these flags are lost to us in that their current whereabouts is unknown.

26th USCT – New York Military Museum -

Research shows us that the Civil War USCT regiments consisted of: 7 cavalry, 13 artillery (light and heavy), one battery, 144 infantry, and 2 brigade bands. While it is unclear if each of these units had a locally made flag, we know that per regulations, each unit should have received a Regimental and National color or standard and with guidons and flank markers where appropriate. What we do not know is how many of these flags have survived; where are they located and what was their design?

This is not a history, but rather an attempt to locate and create an inventory the surviving USCT flags. Any assistance with providing missing information, particularly of the flags that are thought to be lost or lack any information, would be of great help. It is apparent that these flags are of great interest in flag collections, but appear to be focused on separate groups, often isolated and difficult to locate. Here we hope to be able to have a place to gather images and locations of all the surviving flags. We welcome your help in this project.

The first documented flag created specifically for black troops was the “Bucks of America” company color, which was presented to a militia of free black men in honor of their valiant service in the Revolutionary War. This particular flag is not the flag these men carried in battle; instead it was a presentation color, given to the unit in recognition for their service. It appears in the book Standards and Colors of American Revolution by Edward Richardson (1982).

"Bucks of America" flag, from the Massachusetts Historical Society.  See the
link above to go to MHS site to read more about the flag and the Bucks.

During the War of 1812 there does not seem to be any record of an African American unit. Instead they served in the regular army, in mixed regiments, but primarily in the 26th Infantry which boasted 247 black enlistees. There were not any specifically segregated units. Conversely, there is abundant evidence that the fledgling U.S. Navy was desperate for sailors and many of the African Americans who served were simply incorporated onto the ships they were needed on, regardless of color. Visit PBS to read more on the story of the black sailors and soldiers of the War of 1812 and watch the video link there. Link: http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/essays/black-soldier-and-sailors-war/

It is during the Civil War when most of the exclusively black units were created. In 1863 The United States Department of War created the Bureau of Colored Troops. Most well known of these units is perhaps the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry whose story was the basis for the award winning 1989 movie “Glory”. But the 54th is just one of 175 regiments that were organized in 1863. So how many flags from these units still exist? Some sources say less than 25. 

Prior to the USCT there were State Volunteers and the Corp D’Afrique, many of which were federalized into USCT units. An example is the 12th Corps that became the 84th USCT; a flag survives from each period. All of this makes identifying flags more confusing.

12th Corps with reinactor. The flag is owned
by the US Army.

Image of the 84th from the collection of NMAH

A sad discovery is the apparent loss of the flags from regiments from Pennsylvania, which had 11 USCT Regiments. Their beauty is known by the surviving black and white photographs, copies of which are located at the Library of Congress. David B. Bowser, an African American artist, painted several of these.

3rd United States Colored Infantry regiment:

Front of 3rd USCT flag

Back of 3rd USCT flag

 http://www.usct.org/images/3rdusctpostcardweb.jpg

6th United States Colored Infantry Regiment  – both sides 

Front side of the 6th. Only these black and white
images exist and they are located at the LOC.

For more information about the 6th go here: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/ct.htm 

22nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment

Front and back of the 22nd, this is the black and white image that had
 been colorized.  Its accuracy of course is unknown because all that
exists are the photographs from the LOC.

24th U.S. Colored Troops – both sides

Front of 24th USCT flag, image from the LOC.  It reads,
"Let Soldiers in war be citizens in peace"

25th U.S. Colored Troops

Front of the 25th.  Image from the LOC.

45th U.S. Colored Troops. Only an image of the front exists.

Front of the 45th.  Image from the LOC.

127th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. Only an image of the front exists.

Color reproduction of the 127th.  It reads: "We will prove
ourselves men"

The lost Pennsylvania flags are the 8th, 32nd, 41st, and 43rd U.S. C.T.

Visit the State of Pennsylvania's page: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/spring/21356/destination/1460567

for more about Pennsylvania's commemoration of the Civil War.

Richard Sauers wrote in his book, Advance the Colors! Pennsylvania Civil War Battle Flags that many of the USCT flags made their way from the State Mustering office in Philadelphia (where a flag was held for safe keeping) to the War Department for storage. In 1906 they were transferred to the Museum at West Point. Documented in this transfer are the flags of the  22nd, 25th, 32nd, 43rd and 127th USCT.  By the start of WWII storage had become an issue, and the condition of some flags had become so poor that they were discarded. Sauers mentions that only one flag identified as a Pennsylvania USCT remained in the museum in 1940, but he does not state which one.

Besides the USCT flags of the State of Pennsylvania, not many flags are as well known or documented. The following list is what is known to have survived (listed in order of Regt. Number) and its location. Where possible, a photo is included.

2nd USCT, Owned by the Pennsylvania State Museum

4th – Headquarter Bridgade Flag – Private collection

4th HQ Brigade Flag, image from Zaricor Flag Collection.
Visit the site for more information:
http://www.flagcollection.com/itemdetails.php?CollectionItem_ID=2941
Note: the 4th Regiment National flag is the first flag we discussed,
which belongs to the Maryland Historical Society.

5th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops – (3) Ohio Historical Society - 

Flank Marker of the 5th United States Colored Troops. (Flank Marker of
 the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.), Ohio Department of the Adjutant General. 

27th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, owned by Ohio Historical Society

The above two images are guidons from the 27th USCT.  They
belong to the Ohio Historical Society.

Regimental Colors of the 27th USCT. This flag also belongs
to the Ohio Historical Society.

28th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, War Memorial Museum

National colors of the 28th Regiment, USCT. Two images of the same flag.

29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer

Regimental with the Connecticut seal.

The Kansas Historical Society has six flags from the First and Second Kansas Colored infantries. This is one of the largest collections of surviving African American Civil War flags in the nation.

1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment (79th United Stated Colored Infantry Regiment) has three flags, a Regimental, National and a National from Company F

2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment also have three flags.

Two Regimentals for the 2nd Kansas.

The Confederacy did have units that included or were composed of blacks, working in a range of capacities but none are known to have had distinctive flags, and the only 1865 period press description describes the Confederate national flag. We would be interested in knowing about these.

After the Civil War, specifically black infantry and cavalry units were raised. These units served with distinction during both the Indian Wars & the Spanish American War, and the Philippine Insurrection. They were often referred to as “Buffalo Soldiers”, an appellation originated by the Native American Indians as a tribute to their fighting prowess. One surviving flag is the 10th Cavalry, located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Twentieth century flags are more standardized with less variation in design and construction than those of earlier centuries. Examples of the surviving colors include: 

157th Red Hand Division (American Regiments under French command)

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/red-hand-flag/

366th US Infantry

http://www.wiz-worx.com/366th/366_flag.htm

369th US Infantry (15th regiment NY National Guard)

http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/btlflags/infantry/369thInfReg.htm

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/vetscor/853018/posts 

In WWII

761st Tank Battalion (guidon)  - photo 

http://chnm.gmu.edu/forloveofliberty/items/show/144 

92nd Division 

http://www.apathtolunch.com/2011/04/liberation-day-and-liberation-of.html 

WWII – Are there any flags from the Tuskegee Airmen?

Further research about individual USCT soldiers can be found here

http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-98.html - This is the National Archives press release and info about the 100% complete records of every USCT soldier. An impressive undertaking and an unparalleled resource for listing each individual from the units who served. If only it came with images of the flags for each unit. The link provided on this page is to the site: http://www.fold3.com/browse.php#268|. This is a fee based subscription site owned by ancestry.com if you wish to research the individual soldiers who were part of any USCT unit.

UPDATE September 2014:
This beautiful flag is currently on display (but sadly only until 9/7/14) at the National Museum of American History.

Image from the National Museum of American History

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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.

A high school sweater goes to war

by Barbara Owens, SAC staff

Recently SAC was asked to treat a high school sweater. While that may not seem terribly remarkable or interesting, this was no ordinary sweater. As with most artifacts that seem ordinary, it is the story that accompanies the artifact that makes it unique, special or irreplaceable.

This particular sweater had been on display for roughly 80 years, and in that time the once blue and gold sweater had faded significantly to a dull purple from light exposure, it had also been feasted on by insects. Accompanying the sweater was a black and white photograph of a young soldier, who was the original owner of the sweater.

The light damage to this sweater is quite severe, even the original blue which composed the body of the sweater is no longer visible at all.  You can see exactly how the arms were folded forward, and below the "N" is where the photograph of Walter Allison was affixed.

The sweater had been well worn and required some compensation where the holes had created weakness. It was also in need of proper support and protection from light.

The owner of the sweater, is the Newburgh Free Academy High School, located in Newburgh, New York where it will be on display in a new case at the entrance of the school. It had been on display for about 80 years outside the Athletic Department and brought out at every memorial service and the story is told to the students.

The sweater belongs in such an honorable place because the owner of the sweater, 20 year-old and recent high school graduate, Walter Allison packed his wool Newburgh Academy football sweater into his pack as he left for his tour as an enlisted soldier in the US Army, arriving in France on May 23, 1918. The United States had entered World War I in April 1917, and many young men were shipping off to Europe to serve their country. Many of these soldiers knew that they were going to be fighting in areas where harsh winter conditions would exist, and that the uniform they were provided with might not be enough to keep them warm. Hence, Allison brought along his wool varsity sweater in the hope that it would help insulate him against the freezing winter.

Walter Allison 1898 - 1918

Walter Allison was awarded the purple heart for his courageous service. His award was given posthumously following the battle of the Hindenburg Line, where he was killed in combat. The conditions of war are harsh. As you can see first hand when you visit the Purple Heart Hall of Honor, their display of war is encompassing of imagery that displays an up-close encounter with the realities of war.

Company roster from the 107th, Walter Allison is listed in the lower left as a private first class, killed in action, September 29th.  The losses the 107th endured that day were numerous, as can be seen from this page.  For more information about the 107th, please see the website: http://www.oryansroughnecks.org

When a soldier died, the items he left behind were often recycled back to soldiers on the battlefields who desperately needed them. One such thing, was Allison's football sweater. When it reached it's recipient, Chester Greatsinger, he recognized it immediately. By sheer coincidence, the sweater was passed on to Allison's schoolmate, and in that poignant moment, Greatsinger knew that Allison was dead and that the sweater, carried across the ocean from Newburgh, New York to the battlefields of France, was now his. Greatsinger completed his tour of duty and returned home with the sweater, where he presented it to Newburgh Academy Athletic Association in 1919.

Soon to be hanging at the Newburgh Free Academy, the sweater is conserved and will be able to tell it's story of bravery, the harsh realities of being a soldier, and how a sweater found it's way across the world and from one soldier to another and then back home again.

We at SAC hope you have a peaceful Memorial Day and that you keep in mind the men and women of the United States military and the sacrifices so many of them have made.

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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.