Posts from — February 2010

The Alamo Flag is fascinating to me.  The flag was created by replacing the Eagle in the center of the Mexican tricolor flag with the year “1824,” referencing the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, in support of which the state of Texas was supposedly fighting.

The Alamo Flag.

The Mexican flag or flag of Mexico (in Spanish: “Bandera de Mexico”) has a vertical tricolor (from left to right) of green, white and red with the national coat of arms placed in the center of the flag.  Like with some other flags out there, the meaning of the colors of the flag of Mexico have changed over time.

The three colors were initially adopted by Mexico following the independence from the Spain.  The current flag was adopted in 1968, but the general design of the flag has been in use since 1821.

The flag of Mexico.

Another interesting note, without the coat of arms on the center of the Mexican flag, the flag of Mexico looks very similar to the flag of Italy.

The flag of Italy.

The Alamo Flag was the very first flag approved for use by forces by a Texan legislative body.  In 1835, the Texan government authorized the use of the Alamo Flag for privateers preying on Mexican commerce.

Historic professionals have often said that the “1824 flag” was flown by Texan forces at the Battle of the Alamo.  However, this was never declared until 1860, a few decades following the end of the battle.

Various modern writers have pointed out that the presence of the 1824 flag at the time and place of the battle is “highly unlikely.” A similar flag was flown at least briefly by the “Texan Tejano” forces, featuring two black, six pointed stars in place of the date.

The Lone Star And Stripes flag.

It is likely that the actual “Alamo flag” referred to by records of that time period, was the “Lone Star and Stripes,” which had been depicted in use at earlier battles such as “Goliad,” and was widely referred to as the “Texian flag.”

About one week ago an attack was launched on the Afghan town of Marjah.  Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines and Afghan troops swooped down on the Taliban-held town before dawn on Saturday, February 13, 2009, to re-establish government control and undermine support for the militants in their southern heartland.

On Wednesday, February 17, 2009, a Military commander raised the Afghan flag in the bullet-ridden main market of the Taliban’s southern stronghold of Marjah, signifying (to some) the end of the Taliban rule whilst elsewhere firefights continued to break out between holed-up militants and U.S. and Afghan troops.

Learn more here…

Soldier hoist an Afghan flag in Marjah, Afghanistan. Photo by Altaf Qadri.

Numerous Civil War re-enactors in the state of North Carolina are raising funds to conserve a special Battle Flag that a North Carolina unit carried during a infantry charge at Gettysburg.

The News & Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, reported this last Wednesday that this special flag, carried by the 22nd North Carolina Regiment, has been kept away from public at the North Carolina Museum of History for more than 100 years. The flag hasn’t been on display because the material is deteriorating because of its old age.

Learn more here…