Next month, people of Irish ancestry – and millions who aren’t – will mark St. Patrick’s Day with parades, songs, the wearin’ of the green…and the bearin’ of the green. Flags, that is, especially the national flag of Ireland. Ironically, it was born in France. While the flag looks simple, its three vertical bands of… continue
From the start of the Civil War in 1861 to its conclusion 150 years ago, thousands of Irish-Americans played major roles on battlefields, and they loved the flags that went with them. The history of the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, for example, describes “our battle flags, the Stars and Stripes and the Green Flag of Erin,… continue
Just before America’s entry into World War II in 1941, the New York Philharmonic found itself in a dispute over the placing of two American flags on its stage and the playing of the National Anthem before every concert. It was up to Arthur Judson, manager of the orchestra, to answer pro and con letters…. continue
This year marks several important 150th anniversaries (called sesquicentennials), including the end of the Civil War, the death of Abraham Lincoln and the birth of many U.S. colleges. All of them involved flags: regimental banners in the first instance, an American flag in the second, and official designs for school banners and pennants in the… continue
Tourists who make the long bus journey up a mountain near the Pacific Ocean in San Simeon, California, expect to see marvelous sights when they reach the Hearst Castle at the peak. Among those sights, they will be wowed by a room full of flags. Not new American flags, but ancient flags from Siena, a… continue