U.S. Service Flag - Infantry Variant, WWI.
Service Flags were, and still are, an official flag of the US Government, whose use and display, although widespread and largely arbitrary, are actually controlled by the Secretary of the Army, who was tasked with overseeing their design, construction and manufacture. Service Flags like this one were generally used to bolster morale on the home front. If a serving member of the family was killed in action, the star that was representative would be changed to gold.
This unofficial variation has added the word "INFANTRY" across the top and the US Infantry insignia of crossed rifles across the bottom. Although not in compliance with the War Department specifications, variations like this were common during WWI, see ZFC13282 and ZFC1383 for similar examples.
Provenance: Acquired by purchase in 2008 at the Bay Area Militaria Show, San Jose, California.
ZFC Collectible Flag
Sources:
Service flag, Wikipedia, 19 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag
Service Flag (U.S.), Flags of the World, 19 May 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us%5Esvc.html
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
