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Secretary of the Army Flag. What do you think?


awmartin
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I found this secretary of the army flag and while it cost a lot of money ($325), after a lot of thought I decided to pull the trigger even though that's a lot of money for me. Anyways, none of it glows under a UV, and it looks to be handmade and measures 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches tall. Unfortunately the story about it's history wasn't very exciting, the seller got it from the brother of an estate she was cleaning out.

 

I've seen one undersecretary of the army flag that sold at mohawk auction I think, although it looked to be newer.

 

What are your thoughts about this? Should I be really sad or glad?

post-8778-0-15729600-1517110651_thumb.jpg

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I’m no expert, but this doesn’t look to be the quality or style of an official piece but maybe early ones were like this. Or mabe it was locally made for use if the Sec Army were to visit?

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I’m no expert, but this doesn’t look to be the quality or style of an official piece but maybe early ones were like this. Or mabe it was locally made for use if the Sec Army were to visit?

 

I agree. When I saw this I was thinking that it was an early style. From what I saw on wikipedia this position replaced the secretary of the war in 1947.

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That is one ugly flag....if this was officially presented or issued...I'd be surprised....the embroider person should be re-assigned. All I can say is YUK...YUK...YUK! I apologize for being "negative"...but ...I just can't say... "WOW...cool...nice flag!" I'm sure that there are flag SMEs out there....that'll comment.

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Here's something interesting...I have an original Secretary of War flag from WW2...and someone crossed out the "War" and wrote "Army" on it. It almost looks like exactly the same handwriting...

sec army.jpg

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In my opinion its a great looking US flag.The way it's put together it looks European made with that tight loop stitch style of embroidery.I would buy that at 325.00 in a Country Minute that flag is a neat piece of history.Case in point go to the thread in the shoulder patch section on the 517th patches put up last week and look at the 517th patches owned by Patchcollector and Airborne-hunter and look at the loop stitch used on both of them it mirrors the Flags workmanship.Just my opinion but I think its neat.Scotty

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I’m no expert, but this doesn’t look to be the quality or style of an official piece but maybe early ones were like this. Or mabe it was locally made for use if the Sec Army were to visit?

Some of the early positional flags had incredible detail because they were almost all hand embroidered at PQMD. Even painted ones had spectacular detail. This flag looks like a "theater-made" or local made piece as others mention. There is really not much detail work, the blazon should have 7 white and 6 red stripes, there should be 13 5-point stars in the glory and these are just dots, 13 arrows etc. It looks vintage so I'd probably have bought it too, but it sure would be nice to have the story behind it. It's smaller than the designated 18" x 26' auto flag specification, I wonder if it might have been a small launch flag? I have a similarly made Chief of Naval Operations flag with the canvas heading and grommets. It also is the double faced construction (2 identical flags sewn back to back) with the stars appliquéd in the same manner.

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Wow, all of this is really great information, I didn't expect to hear so much about this given that it's so unique, especially with the Secretary of War flag that Dave posted, as the 'Army' writing seems very similar, I wish I knew why that person wrote '13' on it.

 

I really appreciate the time that everyone took to put their opinions and expertise.

 

Just as an FYI since it was mentioned in the post, here is the French made 517TH PIR patch mentioned.

post-8778-0-33092200-1517272479_thumb.jpg

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Totally spitballing on the “13 / Sec Army”.

 

A: This was part of a group of flags. The writing identifies the flag by name and the order of placement when displayed. This is the MLCOA.

 

Case and point: there are 56 flags in the arrangement of state and territorial flags. They are displayed in order from 1-56 by when they gained statehood. (Or US Territorial status). They are generally numbered 1-56 by Soldiers, inconspicuously so that arrangement is easier. (Go on....try to remember the order of 56 flags you use once or twice a month!)

 

B: the flag belonged to the 13th Sec Army. This is the LEAST likely COA...but not unlike the Presidents, lots of holders of these high offices are numbered. I have no clue who and when the 13th Sec Army was, so that might rule out the option.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Nice flag. I'd imagine most Army bases had a supply of VIP flags.

 

The people who wrote on these must have both learned to print at West Point.

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I'd have dropped 325 for that. It looks like some of the flags I've seen at a local museum that holds some fantastic collections of veterans individual items. One in particular had a few flags that were handmade and resemble some of the detail seen on this one.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Austin_Militaria

Saw this flag 6 months ago and even told the lady who had it that it was not the best of quality. And is not up to par with what the Philadelphia quartermaster Depot produced, as they are the only manufacturer of these that I know of. Yes it has some age to it. May never know for sure who made it or what it was used for.

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