Collection of battle flags of Ohio regiments photographed in the 1880s

chubachus

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Location
Virginia
stereoview ohio battle flags.jpg

Photographed in Steubenville, Ohio, by D. Filson & Son. Source.
 
While preservation of our Civil War flags continue, many still look like this. Many State budgets for preservation no longer exist and it is up to us to prevent further deterioration of them. It isn't about North/South or slavery or political correctness, it is about preserving our (American) heritage. At the very least visit your State's Civil War flags. Better yet, get involved and help to preserve them.

104_CivilWarFlagTours550.jpg
 
Where are these flags today? Most CW flags were made of silk and looking at the photo they appear be in rough frayed condition.
 
Thanks for sharing this. As I recall, many of the Ohio flags were attached to nylon backing with varnish in an attempt to preserve them that did more harm than good. Perhaps worse, they were then stored furled (as in the photos) so that at this point saving them is very difficult.
 
Many are in the Ohio History Connection's battle flag collection:
http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/flags

There are more besides just those displayed on the front page; use the search engine to find others in the digital collection there.


According to here, "The Ohio History Connection has over 800 flags, making this one of the largest flag collections in the country. The collection includes the Statehouse Battle Flag Collection consisting of 553 national and regimental colors, state flags, foreign flags, military signal flags, commemorative flags, and service flags. The earliest flags in the collection are from the Mexican War, 1846-1848, while the most recent ones are from the Iraq War."
 
Yeah it’s a shame these flags were stored furled. Preservation is a tricky bisuness, as our technology and ability to restore and conserve artifacts is constantly changing and it is hard to apply best practices. But by having decent funding at least something can be done. Interestingly this photo would have been at a reunion where a specific set of flags were out on loan. The flags were stored at the state house, and loaned out under authority of the Adjutant General at this point... Ohio made a point of trying to collect all the Civil War colors of units so that they didn’t disappear over the intervening years. These flags ought to still be in storage in Columbus, O. , there was an effort around the centennial to try and unfurl and photograph flags which is where much of the “Ohio History Connection” gets its pictures.
 
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The Ohio history museum (connection) in Columbus has a collection of flags in frames, and a plaque next to each talking about where the men were from who made up the regiment, and maps showing where the regiment marched and the battles it was in. Really, a nice display.
 
I remember Missouri's 'Save the Colors' Campaign back in the 80's. They did two 't' shirts, a Reb and a Fed one. We were portraying a Missouri Federal unit then, so we all bought them. Still got mine somewhere. Those Union Colors, being silk are tough to conserve. It's a really good cause.
 
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