U.S. Army General of the Army Personal Flag, 5 Stars, 1944-1945, WWII
This extremely rare, wool, five-star rank flag designates the personal presence of General of the Army, the highest possible wartime grade in the United States Army. General of the Army 'positional colors,' as flags such as this are officially styled, almost never come to auction as most are in institutional collections. It was formerly displayed in The Jim Mountain Historical Collection, a significant archive of Second World War items. One can assume its rarity by the fact that only four men achieved the grade of General of the Army during the war: George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Henry H. Hap Arnold, all in December 1944.
This flag cannot yet be attributed to any specific general, but it was acquired with a significant collection of SHAEF material leading to the speculation that is was used by General Eisenhower, as he was the only 5 star general to command SHAEF.
The United States Army created the grade of General of the Army in December 1944. This was done, in part, to grant the most senior American commanders parity with Allied counterparts identified as Field Marshals. These included Bernard Montgomery (conqueror of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrikakorps), Alan Brooke - Chief of the British Imperial General Staff, Soviet Marshalls Georgi Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovskiy, General d'Arme Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (French WWII hero) and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the Nationalist Chinese Leader.
A glance at the careers of America's four WWII Generals of the Army quickly reveals the magnitude of achievement needed to attain this grade. As Army Chief of Staff from his swearing-in on September 1, 1939, the very day of Germany's momentous invasion of Poland, until 1945, George Marshall presided over the largest military expansion in U.S. history, creating a monumentally powerful force that eventually realized victory against one fascist empire to the East and another to the West of the USA. Douglas MacArthur, routed from the Philippines by Japan's strikes in late 1941 and early 1942, escaped to Australia to become Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, and went on to accept the official Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in September 1945.
As Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe, Dwight D. Eisenhower took a leading responsibility for planning and implementing the invasions of France and Germany in 1944 and 1945. Hap Arnold, as Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces between 1941 and 1945, oversaw the devastating bombing campaigns against Germany and Japan.
A General of the Army ranks immediately above a General; equivalent to a Fleet Admiral or a General of the Air Force. The Army reserves the grade of General of the Army for wartime. At present, this rank is vacant. This particular General of the Army personal color is in good condition, showing only moderate wear and tear and minor moth damage.
Exhibitions
University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012
ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed
Provenance:
• Anonymous general officer collector, Washington, D.C. area.
• Acquired by James Mountain, Ashburnham, MA.
• James Mountain Collection,Ashburnham, MA., until 2009.
• Sold via Alderfer Auction, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2009.
Sources: