Product Description: A classic and beautifully preserved example, this Japanese Good Luck Flag 38″ x 27″ (Yosegaki Hinomaru) is a fine silk devotional banner of the type traditionally presented to departing soldiers during the Second World War. The flag is executed in a high-quality, finely woven silk, its proportions 38 x 27 inches, offering an ideal scale for display. The centrally applied red sun disk, silk-screened in a vibrant tone, retains excellent original color and presence. Flag does show discoloration and wear from age and storage.
The perimeter is neatly machine-stitched, with minor thread loss along select edges consistent with age. The field bears an array of hand-inscribed good-luck messages and names, characteristic of wartime presentation flags and adding to its historical resonance and visual appeal. The silk remains supple and strong, with no distracting defects.
A notably clean and visually striking Japanese Good Luck Flag 38″ x 27″, and a quintessential example of a wartime keepsake likely brought home by a returning veteran.
Historical Description: The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a red disk at the center, representing the sun. It is most commonly known in Japan as “Hinomaru,” the Circle of the Sun. The first historical reference to this flag was in the year 701; the oldest surviving example predates the 16th century. Starting with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the Hinomaru flag became an important patriotic symbol, and in 1870 it became the national flag used by the Imperial Navy and by merchant ships. The Navy also used, as its ensign and war flag, a version of the sun flag, called the Rising Sun flag, that featured 16 red rays emanating from the central disk. Both the Hinomaru sun flag, and the Rising Sun flag, were very important in Imperial Japan and during World War 2. Soldiers were traditionally given signed examples of the Hinomaru flag bearing the signatures of friends and family, along with short patriotic messages wishing them luck. After WWII, use of the traditional Japanese flags was restricted, though these restrictions were later eased. Japanese flags were eagerly collected souvenirs for American servicemen in the Pacific, and genuine wartime examples remain very collectible today.
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