Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Purchased directly from a WW2 veterans family. This hand painted cloth flag is marked with multiple phrases with battle quotes, plus many names of friends and family. The flag measures approximately 39" x 27". Cloth seems to be linen, with the red sun dyed onto the center. Flag is in good condition and is the real deal a genuine USGI "bring back"! There are some tears and overall staining, as expected of a flag of this age. The corner reinforcements are missing, and it looks like they were torn off, possibly when the flag was acquired.
The Good Luck Flag, known as hinomaru yosegaki 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.
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