Designating Flag, 1st Division, 3rd Army Corps
date: label: date made
content: 1865
name: label: maker
content: William F. Scheible
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: Rectangular wool bunting flag. White field with a large red diamond in the center of the flag. The white hoist has a metal grommet at each end. Inscription on hoist reads "From/Wm. F. Scheible/Philada. Pa./Contract. March 23, 1865 1st DIV/Head/Quarters 3rd Army Corps".
label: Description
content: General Description:
label: Description
content: Third Army Corps (26 June - 12 September 1862)
label: Description
content: The diamond shaped lozange, a symbol adopted by the Third Army Corps under General Philip Kearny, became the ensign for the corps flags. The use of corps badges today may be traced to a spontaneous beginning with a directive from General Kearny. According to legend, General Kearny mistakenly reprimanded a group of soldiers from a corps other than his own while on march. To eliminate future confusion, he issued diamond shaped badges of cloth, known as "Kearny Patches," to be worn on the crown pieces of the caps of the soldiers.
label: Description
content: The necessity of identifying corps, division, and brigades on the battlefield soon led to a requirement that all corps in the Union Army be represented with a designating badge. Often the badges were used on the corps equipment and flags. For many corps, the badge introduced an ensign that served thereafter as an enduring symbol in its heraldic lineage. Although the original Third Army Corps flags probably carried the "white cross botonny with red 'three' found in other Army of the Potomac Corps,:" (Todd p. 323), shown here is the regulation diamond shape used after 1864. Flags of the third Army Corps were carried in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac except Antietam (Boatner, p. 189).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: classified
content: Flags
label: Subject
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
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content: Civil War
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content: Military
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content: Designating Flags
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content: Flags
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.25264E
label: catalog number
content: 25264E
label: accession number
content: 64127
objectType: label: Object Name
content: flag, designating
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (grommets material)