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The Army Flag

On Flag Day, 14 June 1956, the 181st anniversary of the US Army, the newly adopted United States Army Flag was publicly unfurled at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by the Honorable Wilbur M. Brucker, Secretary of the Army.

The flag, of white silk and trimmed on three sides with yellow fringe, bears an embroidered replica of the official seal of the Department of the Army in ultramarine blue (without the roman numerals). A scarlet scroll inscribed “United States Army” in white is centered between the device and the ultramarine blue numerals “1775” denoting the year the Army was founded, by action of the Continental Congress, 14 June 1775.

The Continental Congress authorized the original War Office seal, constituting the central design of the flag, on 8 May 1779. The US Army flag bears all the streamers representing the Army’s campaigns since its inception.  (When not being carried, the Yorktown streamer should always be prominently displayed.)

The Army field flag was authorized in 1962 and is the same as the US Army flag except that it is smaller in size, the background is ultramarine blue, the seal is white, the scroll is white, “United States Army” is scarlet, the numerals “1775” are white, and streamers are not authorized.