National Colors of the 46th O.V.V.I.   Save
Ohio Battle Flag Audiovisual Collection
Description: Silk flag served as the national colors of the 46th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The flag was manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1863 and 1865. There are 35 gold-painted stars on a blue canton. The stars are arranged in two concentric ovals with one star in each of the canton's four corners. Gold-painted text positioned inside the ovals reads: "46th / OHIO / V.V.I." The flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes and portions of gold fringe on its top and left sides. Text in the flag's white stripes reads: "[...] OF [...]RINT[...], SEIGE OF VICKSBURG, / [...]VER, MISSION-RIDGE, / [...], DALLAS, NEW HOPE CHURCH, / [...]O[...]D[...]Y CREEK, KENNESAW-MOUNTAIN, JULY 22d., EZRA-CHAPEL, / [...]DA[...]-BLUFF, GRISWOLDVILLE, / [...]LUMBI[...], BENTONVI[...], RALEIGH." Some of the text is no longer legible or intact due to deterioration. The dimensions of the flag are 182 by 191 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: AL01969
Subjects: Flags--Ohio; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Civil War 1861-1865
Places: Ohio