Spanish National Flag, Manila, 1898. Captured by Col. Victor Duboce 1st California Infantry.
This Spanish naTIONAL 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 the beginning 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 an extremely varied collection comprised of diverse objects such as sculptures, paintings, flags, polished tree slabs, paintings, object d'art, jewelry, 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 became home to a number of flags associated with the American acquisition of the Philippines after the Spanish American War.
Due to the nature of its acquisition, this flag is a war trophy. War trophies have their beginnings in ancient Greece and Rome, where military victories were often formally commemorated with a display of captured arms, standards and cultural objects, collectively dubbed war trophies. In the Middle Ages, the European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the Napoleonic Wars, variations of this practice were continued, with armies returning home often publicly displaying flags captured from the enemy. In a public space these war trophies were used to build morale, act as an overt symbol of victory, or merely as a reminder of a past martial or naval accomplishment. War trophies present in churches or other places of worship acted as a homage to the 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 handling of captured colors. The acquisition of war trophies was applauded, and often considered worthy of decoration or promotion. More recently, during World Wars I and II the wholesale confiscation of enemy property, including flags, was commonly practiced. Additionally, in the 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 their acquisition of them diminished when their next dominant foe, the Native American Indians, did not use flags. However, it wasn't long before war trophies made a comeback during both the Spanish American & Philippine American Wars, where American soldiers once again prized enemy flags. The possession of a captured enemy flag is often considered the ultimate war trophy, the literal capture of the enemy's flag holding strong symbolic importance.
This flag was given to de Young by the widow of Colonel Victor Duboce, the Colonel who commanded the first California regiment in the Spanish American War of 1898. During the Spanish-American War many American soldiers and sailors brought home flags which had been locally made in the Philippines as trophy souvenirs. This flag appears to be one of those and the date of its acquisition by the original owner (1900) confirms this assumption. The flag came from San Miguel in the Philippines and was most likely locally made. The size and lack of coat of arms suggest that it may have been homemade for display by a Spanish family to show their patriotism or merely for some kind of celebration.
The national colors of Spain have been red and yellow since 1785. Prior to that, those colors were common in the banners of individual Spanish regions and military units. Officially, there had always been a coat of arms on the yellow stripe until 1928. Those arms had changed over the years to indicate the particular king or other ruler. Because most coats of arms were of a complex design, they were frequently omitted when flags were made by private individuals. The resulting design was still recognizable in its Spanish allegiance, just as red, white, and blue bunting is often used in the United States instead of the Stars and Stripes. The fact that the red-yellow-red stripes are not in a 1:2:1 ratio as they should be also suggests that the flag was homemade.
ZFC Significant Flag
Provenance:
• Captured by Colonel Victor Duboce, 1st California Volunteer Infantry, San Miguel District, Manila, Luzon Philippines Islands, 1898.
• Retained by Col. Duboce as a memento of service until passing, August, 1900
• Gifted by Mrs. Victor Duboce to the deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, December 1900.
• Sold via Butterfield & Butterfield Auctions , SF, CA, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 1997.
Sources:
History of the de Young Museum, de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 15 November 2011: http://deyoung.famsf.org/about/history-de-young-museum
War Trophy, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_trophy
Michael Henry de Young, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._H._de_Young
Historical Flags 1785-1931 (Spain), Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/es1785.html
The Experiences of the First California Volunteer Infantry, Spanish American War Centennial website, 15 November 2011, from:
http://www.spanamwar.com/1stCAinf.htm
San Miguel district, Manila, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miguel,_Manila
Malacañan Palace, Wikipedia, 15 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaca%C3%B1ang_Palace
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
