One of the greatest successes of Save The Flags, our project to preserve, research and display 240 battle flags carried by Michigan soldiers in the Civil War, the Spanish American War and World War I, has been its “adoption” program. For a donation of $1,000 individuals, organizations, schools, families and communities can help with the preservation, research and display of the flags by “adopting” flags in the collection. To date, almost 150 flags — mostly from the Civil War — have been adopted, providing the project with much-needed funds.

Save the Flags

Adoption Program

Adoptions also help preserve history by commemorating particular regiments and individuals. Adoptions are often made in the name of the original regiment which carried that flag into battle, or a flag may be adopted in the name of a veteran by his descendants.

Those adopting flags are honored in a special ceremony. They are given a photograph of the flag they have adopted and a legislative tribute signed by the governor and members of the legislature. Their names are also added to a “Roll of Honor” plaque displayed in the flag exhibit area at the Michigan Historical Center.

The money raised benefits the entire collection. Humidity, light, handling, and dirt must be controlled and limited. The flags are stored on custom-designed (and very expensive) racks made of acid-free materials including stainless steel and anodized aluminum. This storage system, which stops the ongoing deterioration of the flags, was partially funded by Save The Flags.

In another phase of the project, individual flags so fragmentary and fragile that they cannot be safely viewed or studied are being sent one at a time — as funds allow — to America’s top battle flag conservators. There, conservators carefully enclose the brittle silken fragments between layers of a sheer acid-free material which allows the flag to be safely viewed and studied. This meticulous work is done entirely by hand, sewing around — not through — the actual flag to anchor each tiny scrap. The results are spectacular, but the process is very expensive. Depending on the size and condition of the flag, such treatment can cost thousands of dollars per flag and sometimes much more!

Fortunately, many of Michigan’s flags do not require this treatment. Even so, the money needed to fully stabilize all the flags in the collection will ultimately amount to several hundred thousand dollars. A more specific cost is not possible because every flag is different, and the cost depends on the size and condition of each flag. Our approach is to take one flag at a time!

One of the most important benefits of the project has been the opportunity for people all over Michigan (and indeed from all over the country) to participate in saving these fragile links to the past—and to learn from them. No other artifact of the Civil War evokes more awe than the very battle flags Michigan men carried and fought under. We often point out that we are not just saving artifacts, no matter how interesting and beautiful, but history itself.