Flag of the United States Army

History

A U.S. Army flag with full battle streamers attached

Prior to 1956 the Army was the only armed service without a flag to represent the entire service. In 1955, prompted by the need for a flag to represent the U.S. Army in joint service ceremonies, Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker requested the creation of an army flag.

The U.S. Army flag was dedicated and unfurled to the general public on June 14, 1956 at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, on the 181st anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Army by the Continental Congress. The original flag measured 4 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 6 inches, the flag is of white silk with a blue embroidered central design of the original War Office seal. "United States Army" is inscribed in white letters on a scarlet scroll, with the year "1775" in blue numerals below.

Streamers

The concept of campaign streamers began during the American Civil War, when the War Department instructed regiments to inscribe the names of their meritorious battles on their national colors. The Army has defined an official campaign as a particular combat action or series of actions that has historical significance or military importance to the Army and the nation. In 1890 the War Department directed that regimental honors be engraved on silver rings placed on the staffs of regimental flags. In 1920 the War Department ordered that each regimental color would bear streamers, in the colors of the campaign medal ribbon, for each campaign in which the regiment had fought. The creation of the Army Flag provided a means to display all the Army’s campaigns (175 in 2003).

The following campaign streamers are authorized for the U.S. Army colors, in order of precedence:^[2][3]

Streamers
Order	Name	Image	Campaigns & Device(s)
1	Revolutionary War[4]		Lexington 1775 Ticonderoga 1775 Boston 1775–1776 Quebec 1775, 1776 Charleston 1776, 1780 Long Island 1776 Trenton 1776 Princeton 1777 Saratoga 1777 Brandywine 1777 Germantown 1777 Monmouth 1778 Savannah 1778, 1779 Cowpens 1781 Guilford Court House 1781 Yorktown 1781
2	War of 1812[5]		Canada 1812–1815 Chippewa 1814 Lundy's Lane 1814 Bladensburg 1814 McHenry 1814 New Orleans 1814
3	Mexican War[6]		Palo Alto 1846 Resaca de la Palma 1846 Monterey 1846 Buena Vista 1847 Vera Cruz 1847 Cerro Gordo 1847 Contreras 1847 Churubusco 1847 Molina del Rey 1847 Chapultepec 1847
4	Civil War[7]	note: units that served in the Confederate States Army have their streamer colors reversed, with grey above blue and may have different names for campaigns.	Sumter 1861 Bull Run / First Manassas 1861 Henry & Donelson 1862 Mississippi River 1862–1863 Peninsula 1862 Shiloh 1862 Valley 1862 Manassas / Second Manassas 1862 Antietam / Sharpsburg 1862 Fredericksburg 1862 Murfreesborough 1862–1863 Chancellorsville 1863 Gettysburg 1863 Vicksburg 1863 Chickamauga 1863 Chattanooga 1863 Wilderness 1864 Atlanta 1864 Spotsylvania 1864 Cold Harbor 1864 Petersburg 1864–1865 Shenandoah 1864 Franklin 1864 Nashville 1864 Appomattox 1865
5	Indian Wars[8]		Miami 1790–1795 Tippecanoe 1811 Creeks 1813–1814, 1836–1837 Seminoles 1817–1818, 1835–1842, 1855–1858 Black Hawk 1832 Commanches 1867–1875 Modocs 1872–1873 Apaches 1873, 1885–1886 Little Big Horn 1876–1877 Nez Perces 1877 Bannocks 1878 Cheyennes 1878–1879 Utes 1879–1890 Pine Ridge 1890–1891
6	Spanish Campaign[9]		Santiago 1898 Puerto Rico 1898 Manila 1898
7	China Relief Expedition[10]		Tientsin 1900 Yang–Tsung 1900 Peking 1900
8	Philippine Campaign[11]		Manila 1899 Iloilo 1899 Malolos 1899 Laguna de Bay 1899 San Isidro 1899 Zapote River 1899 Cavite 1899–1900 Tarlac 1899 San Fabian 1899 Mindanao 1902–1905 Jolo 1905, 1906, 1913
9	Mexican Service[12]		Mexico 1916–1917
10	World War I Victory[13]		Battle of Cambrai 1917 Somme Defensive 1918 Lys 1918 Aisne 1918 Montdidier-Noyon 1918 Champagne–Marne 1918 Aisne–Marne 1918 Somme Offensive 1918 Oise–Aisne 1918 Ypres–Lys 1918 St. Mihiel 1918 Meuse–Argonne 1918 Vittorio Veneto 1918
11	WWII American Campaign[14]		Antisubmarine 1941–1945
12	WWII Asiatic-Pacific Campaign[15]		Philippines 1941–1942 Burma 1941–1942 Central Pacific 1941–1943 East Indies 1942 India–Burma 1942–1945 Air Offensive, Japan 1942–1945 Aleutian Islands 1942–1943 China 1942–1945 Papua 1942–1943 Guadalcanal 1942–1943 New Guinea 1943–1944 Northern Solomons 1943–1944 Eastern Mandates 1944 Bismark Archipelago 1943–1944 Western Pacific 1944–1945 Leyete 1944–1945 Luzon 1944–1945 Central Burma 1944–1945 Southern Philippines 1945 Ryukyus 1945 China Offensive 1945
13	WWII European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign[16]		Egypt–Libya 1942–1943 Air Offensive, Europe 1942–1944 Algeria–French Morocco 1942 Tunisia 1942–1943 Sicily 1943 Naples–Foggia 1943–1944 Anzio 1944 Rome–Arno 1944 Normandy 1944 Northern France 1944 Southern France 1944 Northern Apennines 1944–1945 Rhineland 1944–1945 Ardennes–Alsace 1944–1945 Central Europe 1945 Po Valley 1945
14	Korean Service[17]		UN Offensive 1950 CCF Intervention 1950–1951 First UN Counteroffensive 1951 CCF Spring Offensive 1951 UN Summer–Fall Offensive 1951 Second Korean Winter 1951–1952 Korea Summer–Fall 1952 Third Korean Winter 1952–1953 Korea Summer 1953
15	Vietnam Service[18]		Vietnam Advisory 1962–1965 Vietnam Defense 1965 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase II 1966–1967 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase III 1967–1968 Tet Counteroffensive 1968 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase IV 1968 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase V 1968 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase VI 1968–1969 Tet 69/Counteroffensive 1969 Vietnam Summer–Fall 1969 Vietnam Winter–Spring 1970 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase VI 1968–1969 Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1970 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase VII 1970–1971 Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase VII 1970–1971 Consolidation I 1970 Consolidation II 1971–1972 Vietnam Cease–Fire 1972–1973
16	Armed Forces Expeditionary[19]		Dominican Republic 1965–1966 Grenada 1983 Panama 1989–1990
17	Southwest Asia Service[20]		Defense of Saudi Arabia 1990–1991 Liberation & Defense of Kuwait 1991 Southwest Asia Cease–Fire 1991–1995
18	Kosovo Campaign		Kosovo Air Campaign 1999 Kosovo Defense Campaign
19	Afghanistan Campaign		Liberation of Afghanistan 2001 Consolidation I 2001–2006 Consolidation II 2006–present
20	Iraq Campaign		Liberation of Iraq 2003 Transition of Iraq 2003–2004 Iraqi Governance 2004–2005 National Resolution 2005–2007 Iraqi surge 2007–2008
21	Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary		Global War on Terrorism
22	Global War on Terrorism Service		Global War on Terrorism

See also

• Flags of the United States Armed Forces

References

External links

• United States Army Flag: Short history of Army Flag at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document "The Origin of the U.S. Army Flag".

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