Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Just purchased at a large military auction! This is a lovely USGI Bring Back from WWII: an original Japanese WWII "Meatball" Silk National flag, captured and personalized by the soldier that found it. They took the time to chronicle all of the locations they had visited during their service on the flag, which makes it just a great piece of bring back militaria.

The flag measures approximately 28"H x 37"W, and is made from real silk, with a lovely sheer look and feel. The body of the flag is white, with a red "sun round" dyed into the middle. It has the correct paper corner reinforcements, though they are now worn and the hanging ties missing. This flag definitely has seen some wear from service, but is still in very good condition.

This is the typical type and size of flag that would be used as a "Good Luck Flag", but was probably captured before it could be properly decorated, which is why it is in such good condition. It was then personalized, most likely with marker, which has now unfortunately faded quite a bit, so it must be examined closely to read.

We have been able to read it, and it has the following written on the left side of the flag:

Left New Orleans
August 1st 1944
Panama
Mexico
Hawaii
Ellice Is
New Guinea
Leyte

On the right side of the flag it reads:

Luzon
Zamboanga
Mindors
Masabate
Baik
Wakayama
Japan
October 26 1945

Even more interesting is that under all of the English words, the correct Japanese for each location is written as well. Most of these are written in the Japanese "Katakana" phonetic alphabet for foreign words, however the Japanese locations are represented by the proper Kanji characters. We would guess that this soldier ended up stationed in Japan post war, and created or updated the flag at that point.

The flag is in very good condition, though it does show wear and tear. There is some tearing in the silk fabric near the edges as well as corners, and there are some light stains. As with most flags of this age, there is some light over all age toning, in the white portions, however the red "sun" is still quite vibrant.

A great USGI bring back flag from the Pacific Theater of WWII, ready to research and display!

The Japanese call their country's flag Hinomaru (日の丸), which translates literally to "circle of the sun", referencing the red circle on a white field. It embodies the country's sobriquet: Land of the Rising Sun.