17th U.S. Field Artillery Headquarters Guidon, WWI.
This is a 17th US Field Artillery silk satin, machine sewn, headquarters guidon from WWI. The 17th Field Artillery was authorized on the 1st of July 1916. They were enrolled into the regular Army at Camp Robinson, Wisconsin, where they were attached to the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade of the 2nd Division and fought in the Aisne; Aisne-Marne; St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Lorraine; and Ile de France campaigns. In all of these battles, the regiment served with distinction earning the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and the right to wear the fourragere.

Headquarters guidons were field expedients and although they were not authorized in the regulations but were widely used to mark headquarters where the use of the regimental standards would have been inappropriate. This guidon differs from the service guidon in that the battery designation is eliminated, identifying only the regiment.

Although this guidon dates back to the 17th service in WWI, the regiment went on to serve in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and The Gulf War.

Provenance:
• Headquarters 17th Artillery, 1917-1918.
• Acquired by 1st Lt. Arthur W. "Bud" Bresciani, U.S. Army (ret.)
• U.S. Army Ranger Museum Collection of New York City, until 1997.
• Sold via Butterfields & Butterfields Auctions, San Francisco, CA, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 1997.


ZFC Important Flag
Item is Framed

Sources:


Quartermaster General US Army, U.S. Army Uniforms and Equipment, 1889, reprint, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1986, pp. 132.

Guidon, Wikipedia, 22 April 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidon_%28United_States%29

HISTORY OF THE 17th ARTILLERY, 17th Artillery Regiment Association, 22 April 2012, from: http://www.17thartilleryregiment.org/index.htm

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection