Iowa's Battle
Flags: Honoring the Memory of Fallen Soldiers
Did you know that the State of Iowa
maintains a collection of 255 baffle flags? These flags represent the colors,
standards and baffle flags borne by Iowa regiments and batteries during the
Civil War, the Spanish American War, the 1902 Philippine Insurrection (an ugly
small war in which Iowa guard units were deployed), and the Great War, which
we now refer to as WWI.
These are the rare artifacts that
represent the service and sacrifice of thousands of Iowans.
75,000 Iowans fought in the Civil
War. 13,000 died. In their honor, the General Assembly passed an act in 1896
that placed the flags borne by Iowa regiments during the "war of the rebellion"
in hermetically sealed glass cases, place appropriately in the corridors of
the state capitol. After a fire in the capitol in 1904, the flags were moved
to the four existing cases in the walls of the rotunda.
Iowa's collection includes flags
that have never been displayed - flags unfurled on battlefields by Americans
from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi... Arkansas. These are Iowa's collection
of captured Confederate flags.
Interestingly, Iowa's collection
of captured Confederate flags includes three Palmetto flags - the Palmetto is
the state flag of South Carolina. Until last year, another flag - a confederate
flag -- also flew atop the South Carolina statehouse below the Palmetto until
a wave of protest led by offended Americans, many of African descent, forced
a national discussion, and ultimately the lowering of the confederate symbol
from atop the statehouse. Georgia is the latest state to undertake this discussion.
Symbols of heritage to some are sometimes
symbols of hatred to others, and in celebration of Black History month this
February, Humanities Iowa, the History Channel, Greystone Communications have
partnered to premier showings of a new nation-wide documentary, entitled, "The
Unfinished Civil War" - a film that features a discussion of the South
Carolina flag issue with Humanities Iowa speakers bureau member, Mr. Joseph
McGill. Mr. McGill is director of the African American Historical Museum of
Iowa, which is located in Cedar Rapids and is an expert on the Civil war, having
served and former federal park ranger at Ft. Sumter, where the Civil War began,
takes up the issue of confederate symbols from the perspective of African American
sensitivities. Our presentations will take place in Sioux City, Ames and Iowa
City.
In the meantime, look for the national
broadcast of this important documentary on Cable Television's History Channel
on February 19.
For more information about Iowa's battle flag collection, and the attempts by the State Historical Society to preserve these symbols of freedom and identity, contact Jerome Thompson, Bureau Chief for the State Historical Society at 515-281-6412.