Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps Personal Flag - General Cates.
This small cotton & leatherette flag is an excellent example of a "Shipboard Made" flag. It was made in the summer 1951 by the US Marine Guard of the USS Mount Olympus to receive the USMC commandant, General Clifton Bledsoe Cates. General Cates came aboard for the naval funeral service of the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Forrest Percival Sherman.
As word of the Admiral's death was dispatched to Washington, his body was moved from a hotel to the USS Mount Olympus which was the flagship of the commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Southern Europe, Admiral Robert Bostwick Carney.
While anchored in Italy at Naples Harbor, a brief funeral service was held aboard the Mount Olympus on the morning of 24 July 1951, while four United States destroyers formed a floating guard of honor around the flagship. General Cates attended the service, and while aboard, this flag was hoisted to indicate his presence.
This is a field expedient flag. Often shipboard, base or theater made, they represent the ingeniousness of the American Marine, to create and utilize field expedient flags as needed or desired when the constraints of the normal supply channels cannot meet their needs. Judging by the materials used in the construction of the two "center" vertical leatherette stars, it is likely that this was previously a U.S.M.C. 2-star Major General's flag already aboard the USS Mount Olympus, an amphibious warfare command ship likely to have such a two star flag. The two "outside" horizontal plain cotton stars allow for the supposition that the flag was made and then remade aboard the USS Mount Olympus.
Exhibition History:
Displayed at the Special Naval Funeral of Admiral Forrest Sherman aboard the USS Mount Olympus, 24 July 1951
Provenance:
• Made aboard the USS Mount Olympus, 1951.
• Retained as a memento of service by unnamed USS Mount Olympus crewman.
• Purchased via Heritage Auction, Inc. Dallas, Texas, 2010.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Clifton Bledsoe Cates, Wikipedia, 2 December 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_B._Cates
Forrest Percival Sherman, Wikipedia, 2 December 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Sherman
USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8), Wikipedia, 2 December 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Olympus_%28AGC-8%29
Clifton B. Cates, Arlington National Cemetery, 2 December 2011, from: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/cates.htm
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
Heritage Auction, Inc.
