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The American Flag

These are flags relative to the history of the 9th Cavalry as we recreate and teach it:

37 stars - 1867

This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th 1867. A star was added for the admission of Nebraska (March 1st,1867) and was to last for ten years.

The three Presidents who served under this flag were; Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877), and Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881).

38 stars - 1877

This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th, 1877. A star was added for the admission of Colorado (August 1st 1876) and was to last for 13 years.

The five Presidents to serve under this flag were; Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), James A. Garfield (1881), Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885), Grover Cleveland (1885-1889), and Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893).

39 stars - 1890

This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th, 1890. Five stars were added for the admission of North Dakota (the 39th State on November 2nd,1889), South Dakota (the 40th State on November 2nd,1889), Montana (the 41st State on November 8th,1889), Washington (the 42nd State on November 11th,1889), and Idaho (the 43rd State on July 3rd, 1890) and was to last for just 1 year.

The only President to serve under this flag was Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893).

44 stars - 1891

This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th, 1891. A star was added for the admission of Wyoming (July 10, 1890) and was to last for 5 years.

The Presidents to serve under this flag were Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) and Grover Cleveland (1893-1897).

45 stars - 1896

This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th, 1896. A star was added for the admission of Utah on January 4th, 1896, and was to last for 12 years.

The Presidents to serve under this flag were Grover Cleveland (1893-1897), William McKinley (1897-1901),and Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909).

This was the flag of the Spanish-American War.

46 stars - 1908

On July 4,1908, the U.S. flag grew to 46 stars with the addition to the Union of Oklahoma (November 16, 1907).

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and William H. Taft (1909-1913) served as President under the 46 star flag. This was the official flag for 4 years.

THE CAVALRY GUIDON

The Cavalry Guidon was a pennant shaped flag with two rows of circles in the canton. The U.S. Cavalry used guidons in the Civil War as well as the Plains Indian Wars later on. The cavalry were the last of the three branches of service of the U.S. Army to get to carry the Stars & Stripes in battle - artillery was first in 1836, infantry in 1842 and the cavalry at the start of the Civil War.

Here's the chronology.

a.. 1834 - General Regulations for the Army authorize a red-over-white guidon for companies of dragoons, of which there was a single regiment at the time. It was silk, 27 x 41 inches, with a 15 inch swallowtail, with the letters "U.S." in white on the upper half and the company letter in red on the lower.

b.. 1836 - Second Regiment of Dragoons is raised, leading to the issuance of guidons with regimental designations in various formats. Nevertheless, in . . .

c.. 1841 - the new General Regulations for the Army reaffirmed the 1834 design.

d.. 1862 - General Order 4 (January 18) directed that "Guidons and camp colors will be made like the United States flag with stars and stripes." The typical design had the stars in two concentric circles with one star in each corner of the canton. Dimensions remained as in 1834. Over the course of the Civil War it became customary to paint the stars in gold instead of silver (which tarnished).

e.. 1863 - Army Regulations, Appendix B, directed that the names of battles in which companies had "borne a meritorious part" be painted on the guidons.

f.. 1881 - Regulations for the Army of the United States directed that the company letter be inscribed in yellow on one of the white stripes of the guidon.

g.. 1885 - General Order 10 returned to the red-over-white guidon, but with the regimental number on the upper half and the letter of the troop (as companies of cavalry were now called) on the lower.

h.. 1895 - Regulations for the Army of the United States introduced a bunting guidon for everyday use, reserving the silk for campaign and parade use.

i.. 1922 - Change to Army Regulations 129 abolished silk guidons.

j.. 1931 - Army Regulation 260-10 reduced the size of guidons to 20 by 27 3/4 inches with a 10 inch swallowtail.

k.. 1944 - Army Regulation 260-10 provided for placement of the battalion or squadron number centered in the hoist.

The flag of the United States Army. A streamer for each campaign
in which Army organizations participated is displayed on the
Army flag. There are currently (June 2008) 178 streamers.

Battle Honors of the 9th Cavalry
Explanation of the streamers
Illustrations of the streamers (all wars)

POW-MIA Flag - we carry this flag as part of our color party.
The history of the flag


1866 - April 1887

9th Cavalry Regimental Standard - April 1887

9th Cavalry Regimental Standard ca. 1931

ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF FLAGS

The following is the order of precedence of flags, according to Army regulations.

  1. The flag of the United States.
  2. Foreign national flags. (Normally, these are displayed in alphabetical order using the English alphabet.)
  3. Flag of the President of the United States of America.
  4. State and territorial flags. Normally, state flags are displayed in order of admittance of the State to the Union. However, they may also be displayed in alphabetical order using the English alphabet. Territorial flags are displayed after the State flags either in the order they were recognized by the United States or alphabetically.
  5. Military organizational flags of the Services in order of precedence
    1. Cadets, United States Military Academy
    2. Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy
    3. Cadets, United States Air Force Academy
    4. Cadets, United States Coast Guard Academy
    5. Midshipmen, United States Merchant Marine Academy
    6. United States Army
    7. United States Marine Corps
    8. United States Navy
    9. United States Air Force
    10. United States Coast Guard
    11. Army National Guard of the United States
    12. Army Reserve
    13. Marine Corps Reserve
    14. Naval Reserve
    15. Air National Guard of the United States
    16. Air Force Reserve
    17. Coast Guard Reserve
    18. Other training organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, in that order, respectively.
  6. Military organizational flags within a Service by echelon. The flag for the regimental corps will have precedence immediately before the regimental proponent’s command flag. The regimental corps flag will never have precedence above a MACOM flag.
  7. Individual flags in order of rank. For the purpose of order of precedence, the term “individual flags” includes the Department of the Army Senior Executive Service flag.
  8. Other

When authorized, the following may be flown beneath the flag of the United States:

More Flag Information: US Army Reg. 840-10