New Made Replica Items: Only One Lot of 3 Available. These are very well constructed and hand painted replica canvas wall hangers/flags from the famous Marine Raiders of WWII.

The first flag is for the 2nd Raider Battalion and features the Skull with lightning bolt and fighting knife and the motto “Gung Ho!” The flag measures 25 ½” x 24 ½”.
The second flag is for the 2nd Raider Battalion “C P”, Company Position. The flag features a Japanese “deaths head” with crossed swords behind it and has the words “Carlson’s Raiders” at the bottom. The flag measures 23 ½” x 18”.

The third is 2 canvas pennants attached together by rope. They feature a red dot on both with the upper flag having a Higgins Boat painted over the red dot with the letter “I” in the upper left corner. We believe the pennants were based off of originals used to identify the different companies or smaller elements attached to the Raiders.

All three items are reproductions and are not being sold as originals. They are in great condition and retain all of the paint and colors. Even being reproductions, these would make for beautiful wall hangers in your collections!

The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare. "Edson's" Raiders of 1st Marine Raider Battalion and "Carlson's" Raiders of 2nd Marine Raider Battalion are said to have been the first United States special operations forces to form and see combat during World War II.

Despite the original intent for Raiders to serve in a special operations capacity, most combat operations saw the Raiders employed as conventional infantry. This, combined with the resentment within the rest of the Marine Corps that the Raiders were an "elite force within an elite force", led to the original Raider units being disbanded.

Four Raider battalions served operationally but all were disbanded on 8 January 1944, when the Marine Corps made the doctrinal decision that the Raiders had outlived their original mission. The changing nature of the war in the Pacific, with many large-scale amphibious assaults to come against well-defended islands, negated the requirements for small light units that could strike deep into enemy territory.

On 1 February 1944, the 1st Raider Regiment was redesignated the 4th Marine Regiment, thus assuming the lineage of the regiment that had garrisoned Shanghai in the interwar years and fought gallantly on Bataan and Corregidor. The 1st, 3rd, and 4th Raider Battalions became respectively the 1st, 3rd, and 2nd Battalions of the 4th Marines. The 2nd Raider Battalion filled out the regimental weapons company. Personnel in the Raider Training Center transferred to the newly formed 5th Marine Division. Leavened with new men, the 4th Marines went on to earn additional distinctions in the assaults on Guam and Okinawa. At the close of the war, the regiment joined the occupation forces in Japan and participated in the release from POW compounds of the remaining members of the old 4th Marines.

In 2014, the Marine Special Operations Regiment, serving under the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), was renamed the Marine Raider Regiment. This change was implemented as homage to the World War II Raiders. Marine special operators of the Marine Raider Regiment are once again called "Marine Raiders".