Spanish 18th Century Military Color Flag Replica

Spanish 18th Century Military Color Flag Replica.
This meticulous hand painted silk flag is a facsimile of an 18th Century Spanish Foot Regiment Battalion color for use in New Spain (Spanish colonies in North American and the Philippines). The white field displays the Cross of Burgundy, a red cross raguly, whose arms are couped or truncated, and are crowned with the Spanish crown. This is a "Bandera de Ultramar" or Overseas Flag of the Spanish Empire.

Spain's colonial empire in the 18th century was exponentially large. In order to regulate these colonies, the Spanish Empire instituted a system of Viceroyalties, a system in which in the power of the Spanish throne was represented through a Viceroy. Military authority instituted through a Captain General who was responsible for fortifying garrisons (called presidios).

These presidios were established in many locales in New Spain. Areas that became part of the United States included presidios in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New México, Arizona and California. Regiments, who were raised in Spain, garrisoned these presidios. The presidial troops in New Spain utilized a system of colors wherein a regiment was organized into three battalions, each with its own color.

This color with its staff and cravat were part of the collection of the Star Spangled Banner Flag House and Museum (SSBFH) of Baltimore, MD. However, the flag had no accession documents, so it is assumed that the flag was not an artifact in the SSBFH collection, but rather an outright gift to the museum from one of the original recipients. The donor and the circumstances of the acquisition by SSBFH remain unknown. Facsimile colors like this are extremely unusual and rarely encountered outside official repositories.

Provenance:

• Made in Spain for the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, circa 1975.
• Presented by the Spanish Government to former presidios in the New World, 1976
• Acquired by the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, until 1996.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD. in 1996.

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