U.S. Army Lieutenant General Personal Flag, Gen. Ridgway, Deputy Chief of Staff, Pentagon, 1945-1951.
Although the United States Army had used a system of identifying commanders in the field, that system identified the command echelon of the officer without specifying his rank. By World War I, the Army had adopted another flag system that merely indicated the rank of the officer flying the flag. The system employed was simple: using a plain red rectangular field, the general's rank insignia was applied in white in the center, with a single star representing a brigadier-general, two stars representing a major-general, three stars representing a lieutenant-general, and so on. This flag was used by Lieutenant-General Mathew B. Ridgway while in command of United Nations forces on the Korean Peninsula in 1950-1952.



Cover of Life magazine from May 12, 1952, showing General Ridgway. Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.

This flag accompanied Ridgway when he was commander of the 18th Airborne Corps; serving in the Philippines (1945), a deputy to Gen. Douglas MacArthur; serving in the Mediterranean Theatre until the fall of 1945; serving as the U.S. Army representative on the military staff committee of the United Nations in New York from 1946 to 1948; given charge of Caribbean Command, controlling U.S. forces in the Caribbean in 1948; assigned to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for administration of the U.S. Army at the Pentagon in 1949; appointed commander of the 8th Army in Korea in 1950.

3-Star US General's Flag of General Mathew B. Ridgway in WWII. White stars on field of red. Circa 1945.

Exhibition History
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC1273)
United States Army General Officers Designating Flag Of Lieutenant-General

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - GALLERY VI
(ZFC1273)
United States Army Officers Designating Flag Lt.-General Matthew B. Ridgway

Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 129.

Provenance:
• Lieut. General Matthew Ridgway, 1945 - 1951.
• Retained by Gen, Ridgway as memento of service until passing, 1993.
• Sold via Dargate Auctions, Pittsburgh, PA to agent Chris Donaghue Books, San Francisco, CA on behalf of Zaricor Flag Collection, 1997.

ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:


Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

Haggard, John V. , Flag Making Tradition at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.qmfound.com/Flag_Making_Philadelphia_Depot.htm

General Officer Flags, The Institute of Heraldry, 12 November 2011, from: http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/UniformedServices/Flags/Gen_Officer_Flags.aspx

US Army Regulations No. 260-10, Flags, colors, standards, and Guidons: Descriptions and Use, Washington, DC. War Department, 1931.

Matthew Bunker Ridgway, Wikipedia, 13 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Ridgway

Matthew Bunker Ridgway, Arlington National Cemetery website, 13 November 2011, from: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ridgway.htm

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection