11-STAR CONFEDERATE CAVALRY GUIDON BASED ON THE FIRST NATIONAL FLAG

Likely wool and cotton. [Richmond, Virginia: Constance, Hettie, and Jennie Cary, and Burger & Brothers, 1862]. Approx. 18 x 12 1/4 in., with 8 x 8 1/4 in. canton; framed to 22 3/4 x 17 1/2 in.

A rare Confederate cavalry guidon of the Army of Northern Virginia, based upon the First National, or “Stars and Bars,” design and traditionally attributed to the Cary sisters of Richmond, Virginia, who are indelibly linked with the earliest manufacture of Confederate national flags. Compact in scale and made for mounted service, guidons such as this example represent a scarce survival of the type carried for field identification by cavalry commands in the war's eastern theater.

The flag’s eleven-star configuration places it within the mature period of Confederate national iconography, while its form reflects the practical adaptation of the First National pattern for active military use. Unlike larger infantry colors, cavalry guidons were intended to be light, visible, and maneuverable, serving both tactical and symbolic functions in the confusion of movement and combat. 

This guidon is believed to date to 1862 and to have been originally retailed through the Richmond firm of Burger & Brothers, military outfitters active in supplying Confederate matériel. Period documentation supports this attribution. Research identifies a January 1862 receipt in which Burger & Brothers charged the Confederate government for 283 “lances and flags,” billing them at a modest advance over the price at which the Cary sisters had apparently supplied the same. Such evidence strongly suggests a commercial and logistical relationship between the sisters, whose flagmaking achieved near-legendary status, and Richmond dealers responsible for distributing these emblems into military service.

Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Flags, Patriotic Textiles]