Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Purchased directly from a WW2 veterans family. This is a hand painted flag has multiple phrases, some of which translate to "Good luck for bravery", "Mr. Noguchi: Ryohai from Shinto Priest Tsuyama Saburo, Sa Shrine", Good Luck for the Front Line", Will of Victory", plus many signatures of friends and family. As with most good luck flags, it is marked with 久 長 運 武 祈, in this case on the right side, which reads Inoru Bu un Chou kyu ("A prayer that your military fortunes be long lasting.")

The flag measures approximately 39 x 29 inches, and is made of rayon, and early synthetic cloth made from wood, with a red "Sun" in the middle. The hang side has original ties and reinforced corners. Flag is in wonderful battle worn condition with a few minor pricks and specs of stains, but this is the real deal a genuine USGI Pacific Theater "bring back"!

The Good Luck Flag, known as hinomaru yosegaki (日の丸 寄せ書き) in the Japanese language, was a traditional gift for Japanese servicemen deployed during the military campaigns of the Empire of Japan, though most notably during World War II. The flag given to a soldier was a national flag signed by friends and family, often with short messages wishing the soldier victory, safety, and good luck.

The Japanese call their country's flag hinomaru, which translates literally to "sun-round", referencing the red circle on a white field. When the hinomaru was signed, the Japanese characters were usually written vertically, and radiated outward from the edge of the red circle. This practice is referenced in the second term, yosegaki, meaning "sideways-writing". The phrase hinomaru-yosegaki can be interpreted as "To write sideways around the red sun", describing the appearance of the signed flag. This particular example completely unique is written in old KANJI the writing are mainly Japanese names of this soldier's family and friends with quotes and phrases.