Description
Product Description: This 712th US Tank Battalion Signed Flag is an outstanding and evocative wartime souvenir. This desirable, GI unit signed flag measures an impressive 46″ x 52.” It has been cut along two sides, likely because it was a building or wall banner that was originally much longer and would have been cumbersome to carry and send home. The red fabric retains strong original color. Both sides of the flag feature machine sewn white roundels with printed black swastikas. The flag has been signed on one side with the names and addresses of 22 US Veterans of Company “D,” 712th Tank Battalion. The 712th saw much combat in the ETO, and engaged with the enemy in Normandy, Falaise, Northern France, Rhineland, the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge), and Germany. The flag is signed in black ink, likely with a fountain pen; the appearance of the ink as well as the handwriting is absolutely typical for the wartime period. A print-out of the roster of Company “D” is included, with the names matching to almost all of the names on the flag- only the Lieutenant is not named on the roster, due to him being an officer. Also included are 5 training manuals for armored units that accompanied the flag when it was sourced from the woodwork. This flag displays beautifully, with some slight soiling and a small hole near one of the cut ends. This choice Tank Battalion Signed Flag is a very nice piece of history with rock solid provenance. The condition rates as excellent.
Historical Description: The red flag with white central disk and black swastika was introduced by Hitler in the 1920s as the flag of the National Socialist political party. In 1933, shortly after the Nazis took power, this party flag was recognized alongside the black-white-red Imperial tricolor as one of Germany’s national flags. In 1935, the use of the tricolor flag was discontinued, and between September 1935 and May 8, 1945, the Nazi party flag was the sole national flag of Germany. From its creation in the 1920s through the end of the war, this swastika flag was made and used in endless variations, from the massive banners hung at Party Day rallies to small pennants, bunting flags, and hand-held paper flags distributed along parade routes. These flags, banners and pennants flew from ships, were hung from official and private buildings, and were displayed outside business and private homes. At the end of WWII, the Allied military governments abolished the use of all Nazi symbols, including the national flag. Most Third Reich era German national flags were simply destroyed.
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