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Flags

The Kansas Historical Society collections include about 75 flags from Kansas' involvement in the Civil War. Most are battle flags of various Kansas regiments, but there also are captured confederate and border ruffian flags and political banners.

On July 4, 1866, Civil War veterans presented those flags to the Kansas Adjutant General for safe keeping. They resided in the Kansas State Capitol for the next 40 years in a cabinet, furled and standing upright. In 1905 the flags became part of the Kansas Historical Society collections. When Memorial Hall opened in 1914 members of the Grand Army of the Republic participated in the transfer of the battle flags to the Historical Society’s new home across the street. The museum collections were moved to west Topeka in the 1980s. By this time the flags were fragile and crumbling. A project called Save the Flags! Was initiated in the mid-1990s to conserve and stabilize the flag collection. Many of these flags have been treated as a part of the project.

Other later donations to the collection include flags from World War II, the Spanish-American War, and state banners.

These flags are part of the museum collections.

Captured Southern Rights Flag Captured Enforce the Laws Flag Captured Stars and Bars Flag
Captured Southern Rights Flag, 1879.5.1 Captured Enforce the Laws Flag, 1887.19 Captured Stars and Bars Flag, 1880.112.1
Fremont Campaign Flag   Springfield Flag
Fremont Campaign Flags, 1883.38.1   Springfield Flag, 1905.17.2
Ninth Kansas Cavalry Guidon   Sixth Kansas Cavalry Flag
Ninth Kansas Cavalry Guidon, 1905.17.5   Sixth Kansas Cavalry Flag, 1905.17.22
First Kansas Colored Infantry Flag Kansas Regiment Cavalry Flag Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry Flag
First Kansas Colored Infantry Flag, 1905.17.24 Kansas Regiment Cavalry Flag, 1905.17.25 Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry Flag, 1905.17.30
20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Flag Second Kansas Colored Flag Kansas Battery Flag
20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, 1905.17.35 Second Kansas Colored Flag, 1905.17.36 First Kansas Battery Flag, 1905.17.50
Confederate States of America Flag    
Confederate States of America Flag, 1909.18.4    
Fremont Campaign Flag    
Fremont Campaign Flags, 1915.35    
Blunt's Flag    
Blunt's Flag, 1920.31.6    
Admit Me Free Flag Captured Proslavery Flag  
Admit Me Free Flag, 1925.18.1 Captured Proslavery Flag, 1927.15.1  
Captured Quantrill's Flag    
Captured Quantrill Flag, 1930.29.0    
     
Captured Nazi Flag, 1944.23    
20th Army Corps, First Division, Third Brigade Spanish-American War Flag  
20th Army Corps, First Division, Third Brigade, 1957.185.1 Spanish-American War Flag, 1958.181.1  
Kansas State Banner    
Kansas State Banner, 1960.42.115    
Captured Japanese Flag    
Captured Japanese Flag, 1962.101.0    
U.S. Union Jack flown on U.S.S. Wichita    
U.S. Union Jack flown on U.S.S. Wichita, 1969.184.3    
Coronado Flag    
Coronado Flag, 1975.90.61    
Victory Banner Victory Banner  
Victory Banner, 1999.79.1 Victory Banner, 1999.79.2  
Miniature U.S. Flag Filipino Flag Service Flag
Miniature U.S. Flag, 2003.10.59 Filipino Flag, 2003.10.60 Service flag, 2009.35.1
Kansas State Banner    
Kansas State Banner, 2010.50.3    
Kansas State Flag   Flag flown over U.S.S. Ralph Talbott during attack on Pearl Harbor
Kansas State Flag, 2012.69.1   Flag flown over U.S.S. Ralph Talbot during attack on Pearl Harbor, 2015.28.1

Entry: Flags

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: February 2016

Date Modified: February 2016

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.