Spain La Bandera de Mochila, Spanish American War.

An interesting relic of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines.
This Spanish La Bandera de Mochila was formerly part of the collection of the M.H. de Young Museum. Founded in 1895 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the de Young Museum was San Francisco's first museum. It was a great success from its opening and has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of the city and a cherished destination for millions of residents and visitors to the region for over 100 years.

Michael Henry de Young, 1849 -1925, was an American journalist and businessman who owned and published the San Francisco Chronicle. He used his wealth to further his eclectic tastes and accumulated a collection of immense variety, and such diverse objects such as sculptures, paintings, flags, polished tree slabs, paintings, objet d'art, jewellery, a door reputedly from Newgate Prison, birds' eggs, handcuffs and thumbscrews, and a collection of knives and forks.

As San Francisco's premier repository, the de Young Museum came to house a number of flags associated with the American acquisition of the Philippines after the Spanish American War.

Very little is known about the history or acquisition of this war trophy. In ancient Greece and Rome, military victories were often formally commemorated with a display of captured arms and standards and cultural objects, called war trophies. In the Middle Ages; the European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries; and during the Napoleonic Wars variations of this were also practiced wherein armies returning home would often display flags captured from the enemy in public buildings or churches. In a public space flags were displayed as either a moral builder, an overt symbol of victory, or as a reminder of a past martial or naval accomplishment. In a church or place of worship they were displayed in homage to Divinity for granting victory, or as a symbol of the power of the providence of God for their cause.

In the American Civil War official protocols were evolved for the disposition of captured colors. The act was considered worthy of decoration or promotion. More recently the World Wars saw the wholesale confiscation of enemy property including flags. In 20th century it became common for individual soldiers to return home with trophies and souvenirs, such as enemy flags.

After the Civil War American soldiers were no less interested in war trophies; however the dominant foe, the Native American Indians, did not use flags. This changed when during both the Spanish American & Philippine American Wars, American soldiers once again prized enemy flags. The possession of a captured enemy flag is often considered the ultimate war trophy; literally one has captured the flag. However, many of these are not actually captured on battle, or even battlefield pick-ups. They are flags encountered or acquired as the result of other activities; often rear echelon pieces acquired through purchase or trade.

Little is known about the history of this La Bandera de Mochila. It was acquired as a GI bringback during the Spanish American War in the Philippine Islands in the 1890s. It was probably made in the Philippines and captured by an American serviceman who brought it back as a souvenir. Flags of this type were produced in a large roll with the same design repeated so that individual flags could be cut off from it. It was inexpensive (although inaccurate) and probably served as a popular flag for Spanish citizens in the Philippines to display and so express their patriotism.

The proper Spanish national flag had red-yellow-red stripes in a 1:2:1 ratio, i.e. with the yellow wider than is shown here. The shield on the correct flag was oriented such that it appeared with one red stripe above and one below the yellow stripe on which it was printed. The design of the shield is a simplification of the Spanish arms. The castle is for the kingdom of Castile, the lion for Leon. The other kingdoms usually included in the royal arms have been omitted here except for Granada. The pomegranate of Granada, appearing at the bottom of the shield, is distorted here and appears as three leaves. In the center of the shield the oval should be blue with three yellow fleurs de lis to show that the Spanish king was from the royal house of Bourbon. Despite historical inaccuracies, this century-old flag is an interesting relic of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines.

This flag originates from the period circa 1898 and is in good condition, printed on a cotton medium.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:

---

History of the de Young Museum, de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 17 November 2011: http://deyoung.famsf.org/about/history-de-young-museum

War Trophy, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_trophy

Michael Henry de Young, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._H._de_Young

Historical Flags 1785-1931 (Spain), Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/es1785.html

BANDERA DE MOCHILA, (FLAG of the BACKPACK), The Blog of Blas de Molina, 17 November 2011, from: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://blasdemolina.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/bandera-de-mochila/&ei=-wHHTo3RD8_KiQLhgdnSDw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDIQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLa%2BBandera%2Bde%2BMochila%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DQ9u%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Dimvns

Image Credits
Zaricor Flag Collection

Hoist & Fly
Width of Hoist	29.5
Length of Fly	29.25

Stripes
Width of 1st Stripe	9.25
Width of Last Stripe	9.75

Frame
Is it framed?	yes
Frame Height	35.5
Frame Length	36.25

Stars
Are there stars on obverse?	no
Are there stars on reverse?	no

Stripes
Color of Top Stripe	Red
Color of Bottom Stripe	Red
Has a Blood Stripe?	no
Comments on Stripes	Stripes counting from left to right (Top: Left, Bottom: Right) Middle Stripe: Yellow: 10.5"

Nationality
Nation Represented	Spain

Fabric
Fabric	Cotton
Comments on Fabric	Broadcloth

Stitching
Stitching	Machine

Thread
Thread Material	Cotton

Documentation
Documents
Drawings	All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.
Research Documents
Public Copy & Signs

Condition
Condition	Good
Damage	Small stains
Displayable	yes

Exhibits

Exhibition Copy

War & Dissent The US in the Philippines 1898 1915 October 22 2008 to February 22, 2009 At the Presidio of San Francisco, Officers Club Exhibition Hall 50 Moraga Ave, San Francisco, CA 2.c ZFC0218 29.25 x 28 Spain - La Bandera de Mochila (Flag of the Backpack) 1890's Small flags like this were issued to all soldiers in Spains far flung empire. It was a utilitarian rather then a patriotic item; it could be used to store belongings, serve as a dustcover, be used as kerchief, or even, if necessary, a shroud. These were popular items for American soldiers to acquire as souvenirs. First Presidio Exhibit (ZFC0218) SPANISH MILITARY FIELD FLAG Date: 1898 Medium: Printed on cotton Comment: Spain possessed a far-flung empire in 1898. Unfortunately, the U.S.S. Maine accidentally (according to most recent research) blew up in Havana Harbor that year, and the Yellow Press in the United States quickly propelled the United States Congress to declare War against Spain. Spains Navy proved inadequate for the encounter and was quickly put out of action. In the land campaigns, after stubborn resistance, the Spanish colonial forces were defeated. Spains colonial forces were equipped with flags basically conforming to the Spanish National flag but with the unit name printed below the Spanish coat-of-arms. Evidently these printed flags were distributed to the colonies without the inscriptions, which were added after issue to military units in Spanish colonies. This unissued military unit color was probably picked up as a souvenir and returned to the United States as a trophy. Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0218) in 1997 from the De Young Museum Collection through Butterfield & Butterfield Auctions of San Francisco, CA.