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21st Inf Regiment Co 'A' Guidon


12thengr
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post-32632-0-50261500-1510272377_thumb.jpgpost-32632-0-46842400-1510272402_thumb.jpg Battalion and Regimental numbers sewed on. A small tab with a button hole on the top of the hoist. Second Photo: the real reason I bought this flag. I needed to add some blue to the mix! :)

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Neat piece. Every one of these things is unique, and I like being able to attach them to a specific unit and sometimes a specific era. The 21st has a very long and interesting career, including being used to put down the LA Riots. It's my opinion that this is not a military piece, as it's got a few things that are "tells" to me. I like those artillery flags, I recall you posting one of them before.

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21st Inf also has a nice connection to the NW and fought in some of the same campaigns in SWPA with the 41st Inf Div. Not a regular issue item but as 21st Inf was active thru the current desert affairs, I can't see it as anything but a military piece.

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The actual letters are sewn on twice. I'm not talking about the back squares, but the actual letters. There is a straight stitch that runs the interior of the letter, and then a "hemming" stitch that runs its perimeter. Military flags only have the hemming stitch. This photo with the A shows the two lines of stitches.

 

When those squares with letters/numbers are sewn on, they are attached from the reverse. So, they take the flag, embroider it, take a square, embroider it, and then sew it on the reverse. So on the front, you only see a lines stitches, not a three dimensional sewn on patch. Here are the squares on yours, sewn onto the front:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=1276346

 

The pole sleeve is also folded in the wrong direction, as in, the fabric was folder towards the front, and then sewn down to the front of the flag. This happened, sometimes, but it's pretty uncommon, and I don't own any infantry examples that have it. Standard GI flags, 90%+ of them that you see, are folded back and then sewn on. In the photo above with the patches, this is what I'm talking about. You see a three dimensional pole sleeve, rather than just a link of stitches holding it to the back.

 

The rifles are too big, or too long at least. On standard examples, the rifle's muzzle and butt do not extend onto the swallow tail. They are smaller and moved a bit left, and don't go that far to the right.

 

I could be wrong, I don't know them all, but these four things stand out to me.

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I agree, completely. Even the color is wrong, it shades towards an Air Corp guidon blue. The question is, why? This thing is obviously well sewn. The tips of the swallowtails have even been strengthened. It seems too well done for a presentation piece. Those are often just silk screened on one side. No other organization that I know of (schools, foreign services) would need or use a guidon numbered for 21st Inf. Certainly not standard, maybe substitute standard. I guess we will have to run across another one to know anything at all.

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It's weird, I've been bitten by a few that I swore going in were 100% GI, only to find out that they weren't. It sucks, for me, as my primary interest is in the GI type. This is why I was looking at yours with a very critical eye for analysis, I don't plan on getting burned again.

 

Now it's weird, I've got two flags that are like yours, in that they are super well made, and pass the look test unless you know what to look for. One of them might be an original, but I can't say. It doesn't have a lined pole sleeve, and there is no maker tag. It's a coastal artillery type, and has pins on it from a reunion. The other is an engineer type, made out of cotton, with no pole sleeve. However, it's got a military inventory tag stapled to it, where it was taken out of service and sent to a QM depot. So it's not normal, and it doesn't match any I've known, but it's been used by the army.

 

So, what about your flag? Maybe it was a replacement for one that got lost and they went all out. Maybe it's a really really good replica made by someone who cared and given as a trophy. Who knows?

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As long as we are speculating; 21st Inf was stationed in Hawaii for a time. Maybe it's Hollywood, made for one of the many Pearl Harbor movies? Unlikely, but anything is possible. As is it works for me and didn't cost as much as a 'real' one.

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It is honestly a very nice flag, and I think it's a good piece to add to your collection. The movie thing is an option, I wouldn't rule it out, Vietnam as well. Regardless, it's very well made, and it isn't on of the typical crappy ones that turn up all the time. The past is impossible to know, unless you can pull something from the seller.

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