The Flags Of The Union

Camp markers, medical-service colors, guide and signal flags, and many other auxiliary flags are shown.

Shows and describes Civil War flags used by the Union Army, including the infantry, cavalry, artillery, medical service, and navy, and includes colors, guidons, and camp markers.

Reproduction of the original: History of the Union Jack and Flags of the Empire by Barlow Cumberland

Known the world over as a symbol of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack is an intricate construction based on the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick. Nick Groom traces its long and fascinating past, from the development of the Royal Standard and seventeenth-century clashes over the precise balance of the English and Scottish elements of the first Union Jack to the modern controversies over the flag as a symbol of empire and its exploitation by ultra-rightwing political groups. The Union Jack is the first history of the icon used by everyone from the royalty to the military, pop stars and celebrities.

This book combines Men-at-Arms 252- 'Flags of the American Civil War 1- Confederate', Men-at-Arms 258- 'Flags of the American Civil War 2- Union' and Men-at-Arms 265- 'Flags of the American Civil War 3- Specialist Troops'. The flags of the Civil War were no mere unit designations - they represented the very hearts of their regiments. The formal ceremony in which a regiment received its colours constituted an initiation into the world of the soldier, and the flag became the symbol which drew the regiment's members together. In camp, regimental colours flew over unit headquarters as a guidepost to members and outsiders alike; in action, it flew in the centre of the line, drawing enemy fire upon its carriers. Few things were more disgraceful than losing one's colours in battle, and extreme sacrifices were often made to save them.

Photographs, illustrations, and text describe the Union flags of the Civil War and their significance.