Why was it a great honor to be chosen to be the flag bearer in battle?

Answer 1

The flag was important for several reasons. This was true of both armies, north and south. Every regiment had its own flag. A regiment was a unit of the army, supposed to have one thousand men, but few had half that many by the time the war had gone on for a year or two. Every regiment had ten companies (each supposed to have one hundred men), and the companies were designated by letter. Both sides used the same manuals, and there was a prescribed order in which these lettered companies were supposed to line up, in the long rows they got into to fight the enemy. Company E was always the "color company" due to its place in the center of the line. (The "colors" were the flag). The regiment followed the flag bearer in the attack, regulating their advance and maintaining their position in the line by keeping an eye on the colors. When they were repulsed in an attack, or driven from their position by an attack, they "rallied 'round the flag", which the color bearer would wave as he stood in a place the commander told him to stand, to reform their line. The regiments were very, very proud of their very own flag. Many of these flags were sewn by the girls from the hometown of the men of the regiment. In the south they often tore up their silk dresses to make the flag, which would be presented to the new regiment as they were setting off from home to go to the war. At that time solemn promises were made about never letting the flag be disgraced, or fall into enemy hands. Regiments which made an outstanding performance in a battle might be allowed to add the name of that battle to their colors - large letters were cut out from pieces of cloth to spell the name of the battle, and sewn onto the flag. Regiments which performed poorly, or ran away, might be ordered to keep their colors "cased" - rolled around the flagpole with a cloth cover over it - until they redeemed themselves by making a good performance in the next battle (this denial of permission to display their colors was mortifyingly embarrassing to the men of the regiment, and a great motivator to display conspicuous heroism at the next opportunity, which, of course, was what the commanders wanted). Regiments which had been in the field for a long time and been in many battles might have a tattered old rag of a flag, full of holes from bullets, grapeshot or cannon balls, bleached by the sun and faded by the rain, but they wouldn't trade the old flag they had followed so far for any number of shiny new ones. It was not just being the Color Sergeant ("color bearer") that was an honor, there was a small group of hand-picked volunteers who stayed by his side, called the Color Guard, and it was their job to die defending the flag from any enemy attempt to take the regiment's colors. This duty was taken extremely seriously. Because every regiment had a flag all the soldiers understood the importance of the flags - both their own and the enemy's - as a means of battlefield communication, providing a reference point for the regiment's movements, and as the symbolic representation of the pride of the regiment. Many a brave soldier was "mentioned in dispatches", or on the northern side awarded the Medal of Honor, for capturing an enemy flag ("taking a stand of colors"). It took an extremely brave man to be the color sergeant ("color bearer") because he had to go into the thick of the battle unarmed, with both hands full of the flagpole, and knowing he was the most conspicuous target to the enemy. There are many stories of a regiment making an attack, and the color bearer is shot down, dropping the flag, and immediately another brave soul would lay down his rifle and pick up the flag and run on, often to be shot down too. I think the record was seven successive color bearers shot in an attack. So, to be trusted enough and thought brave enough to carry the flag, and not let it fall into enemy hands, was one of the highest honors which could be bestowed on an ordinary soldier, and many of them died rather than betray that trust or prove unworthy of the high opinion their selection as Color Sergeant denoted.