U.S. Cavalry Regimental Standard.
This flag is one of the best examples of American Civil War flags. The field is composed of a dark blue banner silk, edged on three sides with a 2" deep yellow silk fringe. Thirteen stars, gold painted, each 1" across and applied to both the obverse and reverse sides form two arcs (7 over 6) above a full painted rendition of the coat-of-arms of the United States (an eagle with shield on its breast and red scroll for the U.S. motto in its beak). Below the coat-of-arms, a three piece gold edged red scroll is painted to receive the unit abbreviation. The flag was attached to its staff by means of a sleeve, about 2" wide when flat.

The text on the tag reads: "Regimental Cavalry Standard Longley & Brother, Cincinnati Depot contract 1864." It is possible that this flag is an unissued Civil War regulation cavalry standard. Upon issue it was customary to add the regimental abbreviation by painting it on the lower scrolls by the receiving officer.

Longley & Bro. were contracted to make 120 Infantry & artillery colors in 1862 and 235 regimental colors in 1863. They had an 1864 contract to produce 600 cavalry standards (perhaps this example among them), 200 regimental colors, 30 garrison flags and 30 storm flags. Septimius and Servetus Longley were printers in 1861, who quickly converted to flag making during the Civil War. After the war, they returned to the printing business, manufacturing playing cards.

The Howard Michael Madaus sub-collection of Civil War Military Flags was assembled from a variety of sources over a thirty year period of collecting (1970-2000) before being acquired by the Zaricor Collection in 2000. The sub-collection attempts to present an example of each of the major types of depot contractor regulation flags and colors carried by Union forces at the basic unit level, i.e. regiment, battalion, company, and battery, as well as the types of general military flags.

This sub-collection, which was added to the Zaricor Civil War collection, constitutes the largest and (while not complete) most comprehensive collection of the military flags carried by the Union Army during the Civil War outside of state repositories designated by the War Department for the depository of these flags after the War, or in public museum collections. In fact this private collection is larger and more comprehensive than many of the public museum collections in the United States.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Provenance:
• Made by Longley & Brother, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1864.
• Pennsylvania State Fencibles Museum, Philadelphia, PA, until dissolution 1970s.
• Acquired by Mr. Craig Nannos (The Sentry Post) of Broomhall, Pennsylvania, until 1979.
• Conservation work done by Robert D. Needham of Columbus, Ohio
• Sold to Howard M. Madaus of Cody, Wyoming, until 2000.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Madaus Flag Collection of Cody, WY, in 2000.


Sources:


Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

US Army Quartermaster General, Flags of the Army of the United States carried during the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, to designate the headquarters of the different armies, army corps, divisions and brigades, Washington, D.C., 1887.

Todd, Frederick P., American Military Equipage 1851-1872, Volume 2, Providence, The Company of Military Historians, 1977.

Woodhead, Henry, ed., Flags, Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of The Union, New York, Time Life Books, 1998,

Madaus, Howard M., correspondence to Ben Zaricor, 29 March 2000, Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection

CSG
USCS