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WW2 US ARMY TRANSPORTATION CORPS BOAT FLAG.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 USD
WW2 US ARMY TRANSPORTATION CORPS BOAT FLAG.

34” x 60” bunting & cotton, 3” hoist with 2 brass grommets, stamped with Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, dated May 7, 1939.
What would become the Army Transport Service had its beginnings in the Quartermaster Corps. The service would remain under the auspices of the Quartermaster Corps until 1943 when it was spun off into its own branch. The Transportation Corps supervised the shipping of Army personnel and supplies overseas which began during the Spanish American War of the late 1890s. patents were issued William F. Costen for the design and making of seven flags for Army transports. These flags were patented in August 1899. Mr. Costen reported their description at the time, "Opposite corners, the upper one the nearer to the staff, are right-angled triangles of red and blue respectively, and the remainder, a diagonal strip between the triangles, is white. In the white field is a wheel crossed by a sword and a key and surmounted by an eagle. Thirteen stars adorn the rim of the wheel, and the letters “U.S.A.T.S." encircle the design." The aforementioned “wheel” was blue as were the letters. Costen’s design would serve through 1943 with some minor alterations (dropping the lettering). Small variants of this flag, in pennant shape, were used on smaller boats, harbor craft and on the vehicles of Motor Transport units.
From 1943 onward, the central device was altered to a red with the wheel being changed to one that would appear on the bridge of a ship (with handles). The stars therein were removed. Inside the wheel was a central device of a tire bearing wings, which were in white. This change took place when the Transportation Service was spun off into its own entity. This flag was only in service till 1943 and is a boat flag, its single use on a ship. The flag is flown from sunrise to sunset on the forwardmost mast, or on the outboard halyard of the port yardarm if there is a single mast. Shipboard courtesies and customs, including the use of flags, are laid down for Army vessels in Field Manual 55-501, Marine Crewman's Handbook.
CONDITION: fine overall (02-17547-49/JS). $600-800.