"US flag finials" Topic

My nice new Perry metal command set has two flagstaffs; one with a spearpoint and one with an eagle.

Which goes with the national flag and which with the regimental?

Thanking you in advance.

I'm not sure if there is any Government Regs for this but I have seen pics of both being used with BOTH flags. I have also seen both being used at the same time. Our unit had two spear points only, one for each flag. I don't think in the field it mattered.

While I suspect that the eagle is intended for the National Flag, I agree with Avidgamer that it really doesn't matter

Revised US Regulations, 1861, describes the Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry Regiments' colors on a "pike, including the spear and ferrule, to be nine feet ten inches". The "spear", as you probably know, is a standard design used even today. By deduction, the eagle was not supposed to be there but we also know that what was supposed to be is not always so. Leads to same conclusion as avidgamer, it makes little difference in miniature.

Some pictures in Troiani's books show the eagle on the staff of the blue regimental flag, while the National "Stars & Stripes" has a "spear point" on it's staff.

A lot of the Regimental flags had Eagles as part of thier design or motif. So makes sense the Eagle would be used with the regimental flag.

I was a curator at the Missouri State Museum for many years. At that time many of our CW Union colors were still furled around their staffs. Of those that still had finials, most were spear heads. One had a cast eagle, while several had a simple ball! There didn't seem to be any correlation between type of color and type of finial, but if a color was presented to a regiment by a non-U. S. government entity, such as a town or an aid society, it was more likely to be nonregulation (on one such presentation color the staff is painted black, and a foot-long portion of the staff below the color, where the color bearer would grasp it, is wrapped in red velvet, edged at top and bottom with gold lace!). On most government-issued colors the staff seem to bear the regulation spearhead.

A little off topic but when I was doing ACW re-enacting, our group was working on reproducing the finial for the 2d WI regt flag. Unfortunately, the finial was broken sometime during the war. At the time, there was only one existing photograph of the complete finial and that was poor quality so it is not known exactly what the complete finial looked like. It is believed that a eagle with wings spread sat atop the remaining piece.

Look here
PDF link

Thank you, gentlemen, very helpful.

Eagle is only used today if someone of cabinet or higher rank is present otherwise you use a spear point. Often times this trivia is ignored.
Cheers,
Joel in Northern Virginia

Does anyone know a source for 25mm-28mm spearpoints? I would even buy a figure to get one. I need 8 altogether.
I bought some very nice company guidons from the Flag Dude but they have a straight point type finial, not the correct spear head shape that company guidons of the Civil War and Indian Wars had.
Any help would be appriciated.

Tom

Firing Line Miniatures used to produce finials with tassles hanging from them. Conniseur Miniatures now carries Firing Line, so maybe they carry them.

Thanks for the reply FireZouave. I will check that out.

Are there any American producers or importers of these?

I believe front rank also produces flag tips with tassels attached.

Sean

An additional style. Maryland regimental flag staffs have a golden cross finial

Hey Garryowen, I bought a whole bunch of 28mm finials and tassels from Rick (the Flag Dude). They don't have staffs, though. How many do you need?