Flags 1st division 1st Corps?

[Jack7171]

Would the Red be 1st Division, and the circle 1st Corps? I did find info on wiki, but I've learned that cannot always be trusted 100%

 

[rpkennedy]

The only First Division, First Corps flag that I've seen is a white flag with a red circle in the center. And it was a rectangular flag, not a guidon.

Ryan

 

[General JJ]

The only First Division, First Corps flag that I've seen is a white flag with a red circle in the center. And it was a rectangular flag, not a guidon.

View attachment 541816

Ryan

Banzai!

 

[Rhea Cole]

Under the innovative Gen Dan Butterfield system, the marker flag of the corps commander is a burgee ( swallowtail flag) with the ordinal of the corps inside the tactical symbol.

The divisions were rectangular flags red, white & blue.

Brigade marker flags were pennants ( triangular flags.)

The order of battle of the First Corps.

 

[Jack7171]

View attachment 541870
Under the innovative Gen Dan Butterfield system, the marker flag of the corps commander is a burgee ( swallowtail flag) with the ordinal of the corps inside the tactical symbol.

View attachment 541869
The divisions were rectangular flags red, white & blue.

Brigade marker flags were pennants ( triangular flags.)

View attachment 541871

The order of battle of the First Corps.

Thank you for this info! So are there combinations of these flags?, and I'm naively spit balling,, the flag shown in my op could be 1st division red disc on an artillery brigade red flag, with headquarters swallowtail?
Or was that not even a thing lol

 

[Rhea Cole]

Thank you for this info! So are there combinations of these flags?, and I'm naively spit balling,, the flag shown in my op could be 1st division red disc on an artillery brigade red flag, with headquarters swallowtail?
Or was that not even a thing lol

The commander's marker flags had a very important tactical purpose. At a glance, the position & unit designation of commanders could be ascertained.

For example, the white flag with a red disc belonged to the commander 1st Division, 1st Army Corps. Even at considerable distance that message came through.

The point being that the success of the Butterfield system was a function of its elegant simplicity. Modifying a marker flag, as you suggest, would only sow confusion.

Your example is not an international maritime signal flag. Nor is it a yacht club flag.

American Yacht Club flags from Lloyd's Register

It is not the house flag / funnel marker of a shipping company.

We know what it is not; what is it? There is one highly speculative possibility.

I have no reason to believe that you have a Civil War era flag. That being said, artillery batteries carried flank marker flags. Like the example below, they were (+/-) 24" on the fly. (Length)

Link:

9th Regiment Artillery (Heavy), NY Volunteers | Flank Markers | Civil War

These purple, silk swallowtail flank markers include a painted regimental identification. To create the swallowtail, a horizontal cut was made from the fly edge and each end was then folded and stitched along the vertical, turning under the raw edge. The top and bottom edges were then turned up...

museum.dmna.ny.gov

In the Army of the Cumberland, the only army I am familiar with, artillery flank marker flags were handmade, not from a depot. As a result they were not necessarily of a regular pattern.

The only one that exists today is from the Chicago Board of Trade Independent Battery of Light Artillery. It is a rectangular red flag with CBT in yellow paint on it.

I suppose your flag could be an informal flank marker. If so, it would be very rare.

Odds are it is a modern pennant for a ball team or such like.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Sidebar:

As US carrier groups began attacks on the Japanese home islands in 1945, there were hundreds of identical blue aircraft sharing the same airspace. A system like Gen Butterfield's was instituted to solve a similar problem.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The only First Division, First Corps flag that I've seen is a white flag with a red circle in the center. And it was a rectangular flag, not a guidon.

View attachment 541816

Ryan

The white flag with a red disc was the marker flag of the commander 1st Division, 1st Army Corps.

 

[Jack7171]

The white flag with a red disc was the marker flag of the commander 1st Division, 1st Army Corps.

Can I pm?

 

[Rhea Cole]

Can I pm?

Please do. Open communication is the life's blood of learning.