SECESSION TRIGGERS WAR 1861■ UNION 33-STAR NATIONAL FLAG ■ UNION 34-STAR NATIONAL FLAG ■ 111TH PENNSYLVANIA
■ “OLD GLORY” ■ 69TH NEW YORK INFANTRY
■ 84TH REGIMENT, U.S. COLORED TROOPS
Union and Confederate Flags
Flags provided identification for military units and were symbols of pride.
Today, the surviving tattered banners bearing state and other insignia confirm
the importance of local volunteer organizations throughout the Civil War.
■^ National color of the 84th Regiment U.S. Colored
Troops (Union) The red stripes bear the regiment’s name
and number and detail a number of the unit’s battles.
■^ “Old Glory” (Union) This flag, made in 1824, was
the first to bear the name “Old Glory.” It was unfurled
for the last time when Union troops occupied Nashville in
- ■ 69th New York Infantry flank marker (Union)
This flag was captured by the Confederates at Fredericksburg
on December 13, 1862. ■ Union 33-star flag The 33-star
flag was the national flag before the Civil War. No stars were
removed at the outbreak of war, since the Federal government
believed secession was illegal. ■ Union 34-star flag,
adopted on July 4, 1861, after the admission of Kansas as the
34th state earlier that year. ■ Flag of 111th Pennsylvania
Regiment (Union) This regimental flag displays an image
of a bald eagle, a prominent patriotic symbol among
Union troops. ■ National flag of the Confederacy The
Confederate Congress adopted a seven-star version of this
flag, designed by Nicola Marschall and referred to as the
“Stars and Bars,” on March 4, 1861. Stars were added as
more states seceded. ■ Flag of 1st Louisiana Special
Battalion (Confederate) This version of the Confederate
battle flag was carried by Wheat’s Tigers of Louisiana.
■ Regimental Flag, 25th Louisiana Infantry (Confederate),
embroidered with the regiment’s motto “Trust and go
forward.” ■(; Flag of Washington Artillery (Confederate)
This was the flag of the 5th Company of the New Orleans
Washington Artillery. ■(2 Guidon of 24th Louisiana Crescent
Regiment (Confederate) This guidon (company standard)
belonged to the regiment’s A Company. ■(3 Flag of Cowan’s
Mississippi Battery (Confederate) In 1862 General Earl Van
Dorn ordered units under his command to adopt this flag as
the regimental color. ■(4 Flag of Ware’s Tigers (Confederate)
This national flag, used by Ware’s Tigers of Corpus Christi,
has 13 stars, representing the seceded states as well as
Missouri and Kentucky, which possessed competing state
governments. ■(5 Confederate battle flag Owing to possible
confusion on the battlefield between the Confederate and
Union national flags, this battle flag was adopted by the Army
of Northern Virginia and, later, by Southern forces generally.