A captured Spanish flag from the Spanish-American War.
This Spanish flag 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.
Little is known about the history of this flag. It was acquired as a GI bringback during the Spanish American War in the Philippine Islands in the late 1890s.
This flag has been carefully made and reinforced to withstand heavy usage. Its size also suggests that it was prominently displayed perhaps on a building or ship. In the context of the Collection of which it forms a part, it is reasonable to conjecture that this was a captured Spanish flag brought back from the Spanish-American War and later donated to the De Young Museum.
Most countries have only a single design of their national flag for use in all circumstances. It is a tradition in southern Europe and Latin America, however, to have two equally official versions of the national flag. The basic design consists of stripes in the national colors; red and yellow in the case of Spain. To this flag is added the state coat of arms to show the official character of the building or ship over which the flag is to be flown.
Obviously, however, this flag was in actual use as the present example testifies. It clearly was not made carelessly or on short notice, so the presumption must be that (at least in the Philippines) Spanish authorities flew the normal state flag without the coat of arms it was officially meant to bear. Presumably it was used in governmental circumstances as the size of the flag is much larger than would normally be required except for the largest building or ship.
ZFC Significant Flag
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
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
