These small flags are often referred to as "bible flags." They were common to both the North and the South during the American Civil War. Often made for a soldier by a mother, wife, sweetheart or sister, smaller flags were often carried by soldiers in pocket bibles as a reminder of loved ones at home. Slightly larger flags were used as bookmarks for passages of scripture in family bibles as a way to remember those serving at the front.

Religion was a factor on both sides, especially after 1863, when the Union and the Confederacy each began to equate their cause with a crusade. In the North the fight to free the slaves was added to the campaign to save the Union, while in the South it became a fight to defend hearths and altars.

It is regrettable that we do not know the soldier or family with which this flag was associated, but it is representative of the religious fervor with which many Union soldiers trampled the Grapes of Wrath.

Exhibition History:
Chicago Meeting December, 2003
(ZFC0253)
13-Star United States Bible Flag

University of California - Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012

Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0253) at a Wesley Cowan auction in 1998.
CMP1290