Regimental Colors of the 18th O.V.I.   Save
Ohio Battle Flag Audiovisual Collection
Description: Regimental colors of the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Rectangular flag measures 187 cm high by 193 cm wide. Blue silk flag served as the regimental colors of the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The flag was manufactured in the United States between 1863 and 1865. The United States arms is painted in the flag's center. The arms consists of a bald eagle holding an olive branch in its left talon and a bundle of arrows in its right talon. The eagle holds in its beak a scroll with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "one out of many"). A shield with red and white stripes and a blue upper portion is positioned on the eagle's breast. Thirty-five gold painted stars are arranged in two arcs above the arms. Below the arms is a red painted banner. The flag has gold fringe on its top, right, and bottom sides. The dimensions are 187 by 193 cm. The 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was organized in May 1861 for three months' service, then reorganized in November 1861 at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati for three years' service. The regiment took part in the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga. In October 1864, with its term of service nearly expired, the 18th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was reorganized by consolidating the 1st, 2nd, 18th, 24th and 35th Ohio infantry regiments. This veteran regiment took part in the Battle of Nashville in December of that year. The regiment was mustered out in Augusta, Georgia, on October 9, 1865. Ohio battle flags were on display at the Ohio Statehouse until the 1960s, when the state formed a committee to oversee the efforts to restore the fragile flags. Some of the battle flags were on display on the Plaza Level of the Ohio Historical Society from 1970 until 1989. For conservation reasons, the flags have been in storage since 1989. In the 1960s, the collection was photographed and commercial artist Robert Needham painted illustrations of many Civil War flags. Photographs of the flags and the paintings are now part of the society's archival collections. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01903
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Civil War 1861-1865
Places: Ohio