Old State House Museum: Civil War Battle Flag Collection

View Old State House Museum in a larger map

Visit our Tour Destination: Arkansas page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Before treatment:  Confederate Second National pattern battle flag.
Photo courtesy Old State House Museum.

After treatment:  Confederate Second National pattern battle flag.
Photo courtesy Old State House Museum.

Old State House Museum

300 West Markham

Little Rock, AR

Website:  Old State House Museum

The Treasure:  The Old State House Museum in Little Rock preserves twenty historic Civil War battle flags including representatives of Confederate “National” flags, St. Andrew’s Cross, and the Hardee Pattern, as well as other battle flags.

The Old State House Museum
in Little Rock. Photo courtesy
Old State House Museum.

Accessibility:  The Old State House Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 to 5, and Sunday from 1 to 5. The oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi, the Old State House Museum has a fascinating history of its own. Permanent exhibitions tell the story of the historic building, with complementary exhibitions that explore subjects such as Arkansas political history and the legacy of Arkansas women.

The Civil War battle flags are very fragile and can only be safely displayed under controlled conditions for brief periods of time. There will be some limited display of the flags during the five exhibitions planned for the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011-2015).

For immediate armchair accessibility, the twenty battle flags in the collection have been digitized and may be viewed online.

Background:  Flags are no longer the essential tools of war they once were. In the chaos of a Civil War battle, a flag lifted high above the fray provided visual orientation and a needed rallying point. When the flag dropped out of sight, confusion could quickly take hold.

Soldiers knew their flags and invested them with strong emotion. The flag symbolized their companions, their cause, and their regional identity. As long as the flag was held high, it symbolized hope, too.

The Old State House Museum in Little Rock preserves a remarkable collection of twenty Civil War battle flags. Each of them speaks to Arkansas’ role in the unfolding war. The collection is unique in possessing examples of all three major patterns of flags distributed to units of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

The captured Confederate flags were retained by the United States War Department in the decades following the Civil War. The South’s vigorous participation in the Spanish-American War led to a formal gesture of reconciliation in 1905 as the federal government returned the captured battle flags to their states. In the 1950s, the State of Arkansas entrusted its Civil War battle flags to the care of the Old State House Museum.

Notes from the Editor:  Three flags from this collection were designated for special conservation treatment through Save America’s Treasures funding. As with all textiles, flags deteriorate as they age. Prolonged light exposure can distort their colors and the fabric itself can become brittle. Old attempts to create supports for the flags actually served to accelerate their deterioration. Fastened to an acidic surface, the pigments and fibers of the flags suffered further degradation. (In the before and after treatment images on this page, the acidic supports have been removed in the "after" image.)

The good news is that this flag collection can be conserved. Fundraising for the Civil War Flag Preservation Project continues at the Old State House Museum. This brief video offers a glimpse inside the museum and an introduction to the flag preservation cause:

Here’s more information on the fundraising campaign and a direct link to the online donation page where you can make a contribution toward saving Arkansas’ Civil War battle flags.

Other Recommended Sites:  A century and a half ago, the Civil War was raging. Today, the sesquicentennial is offering nearly countless opportunities to commemorate and honor our shared past. The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission has mounted an easy-to-navigate website that links to information on events and exhibitions planned throughout the state, as well as detailed information on Arkansas’ role in the war.

Before treatment:  Confederate First National pattern flag attributed to
"Hart's Battery."  Photo courtesy Old State House Museum.

After treatment:  Confederate First National pattern flag attributed to
"Hart's Battery."  Photo courtesy Old State House Museum.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Little Rock Central High School
Wednesday’s destination:  Eureka Springs City Auditorium

© 2012 Lee Price