Co. "C" 4th Marines - Animal Aggression - Unofficial Guidon, WWII.
This unofficial, felt, United States Marine Corps (USMC) guidon was likely used as a "hooch" or company room decoration to boost morale. The inscription, "Animal Aggression", emblazoned diagonally across the field and striped in the USMC colors of scarlet and golden yellow, is doubtless a reference to the central emblem - the USMC "Devil Dog".

The "Devil Dog" or Teufelshunde, was an appellation promoted in the American media after the first encounter between the USMC and German troops on 20 April 1918. Although never independently corroborated by German sources, the nickname stuck and was widely adopted by the U.S. Marines for recruiting purposes: it has since become an endearing term for Marines. The stylized English bulldog wearing a U.S. Marine Corps M17 Helmet became a popular pre-WWII incarnation of the USMC Devil Dog. The attributes of the bulldog, tenacity and ferocity, were accepted by the USMC as both symbolic and complimentary.

This guidon's history has not yet been accurately determined as the unit designations have engendered three possible explanations. The first is that this guidon was used by C Company of the 4th Marine Raider Battalion organized in October 1942. They were disbanded in February of 1944.

The next possibility is that they were part of C Company of the 4th Marine Regiment reformed in 1944. The original 4th Marine Regiment was formed in 1914 but was dissolved at Corregidor in 1942. Another regiment created in 1944 bore the name and honors of the original 4th Regiment and was formed by amalgamating the four U.S. Marine Raider Battalions into the new 4th Marine Regiment.

The third explanation is that this guidon was from one of the several "C" companies in the 4th Marine Division activated on 14 August 1943. While it is true that WWII U.S. Marines proudly identified themselves by their combat divisional number, the "4" on this guidon has an open top and not the closed top utilized on the distinctive 4th Marine Division Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI). It therefore seems unlikely that this is a divisional reference.

Consequently, research remains ongoing as to the unit identification of this wool & rayon WWII USMC guidon.

Provenance:
* Vernacular WWWII construction by unidentified U.S. Marines, 1942/44.
* Acquired from estate of U.S. Marine by War Museum of New York City, 1980s
* The War Museum, New York City, until 2013
* Sold via Bonham's of New York City, NY to Zaricor Flag Collection, 2013.

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