National Colors of the 21st O.V.V.I.   Save
Ohio Battle Flag Audiovisual Collection
Description: This silk flag served as the national colors of the 21st Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. The flag was manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1863 and 1865. The flag has 35 gold-painted stars on a blue canton. The stars are arranged in two concentric ovals. There is also one star in each of the canton's four corners. The flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes and gold fringe on its top, right and bottom sides. Text in the flag's stripes reads: "21st. REG. OHIO, VET. VOL. INF[...] / IVY MOUNTAIN, NASHVILLE, HUNTSVILLE, LAVERG[...] / "WILSON'S BEND, WHITE'S CREEK, STONE RIVER, TULLAHOM[...] / DUG GAP, CHICKAMAUGA, CHATTANOOGA, ROCKY FACE / RESSACCA, NEW HOPE CHURCH, PUMPKINVINE CREEK, ALTOONA CREEK, KENNESAW [...] / OLD KNOB, VINING'S STATION,NANCY'S CREEK, PEACH TREE CREEK, SIEGE OF [...] / JONESBORO, MILLEDGEVILLE, LUMPKIN'S STATION, SAVANNAH, CO[...] / ROCKY MOUNT, AVERYBORO, BENTONVILLE, RALE[...]." Some of the text is no longer legible or intact due to deterioration. The dimensions of the flag are 191 by 188 cm. 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: AL01907
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry
Places: Ohio