United States 50 stars Vietnam War Airman's Flag.
During World War II, American flyers in the China-Burma-India Theater provided themselves with patches of cloth or leather to be sewn to the back of their airman's jackets. These chits (as they were called) bore the United States flag and that of our Chinese allies as well as inscriptions in Chinese (and other languages as needed) that explained that the wearer was a friendly aviator and that an award was due to be given to the person who returned him to friendly lines.

During the Vietnam War, the practice of wearing chit patches was revived. However, instead of our allies' flags, the 1961 approved chit bore only the United States flag, below this, text that outlines a reward was rendered in 13 languages other than English. An American aviator who was killed in action over Vietnam carried this particular chit. The American attempt to suppress the Communist-led movement to unify Vietnam as an independent nation began under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, escalating successively under Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.

Exhibition History
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0305)
50-Star United States Flag On A U.S. Airman's Chit

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - GALLERY VI
(ZFC0305)
50-Star United States Flag on an Airman's Chi

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 133.

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0305) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD.

Sources: