battle flag?

[peter]

Hello gents

i traded for this at a military fair yesterday and wonder if someone could translate some of the kanji or tell me anything about this type of flag?

many thanks

Peter

[Stu W]

Hello,

 

That is a yosegaki hinomaru or Good Luck Flag. A battle flag has rays with either a centered red orb for Army or offset red orb for Navy.

 

The large kanji along the right side mean Ki Buun Choukyuu or "Prayers for Eternal Good Fortune in Battle". The vast majority of small kanji are the names of well wishers.

 

It would be helpful to see a photo of the entire flag so as to properly orient the kanji before going any further with translation.

 

Here is a link to a helpful thread regarding kanji translation over on WAF...

 

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ ... p?t=493366

 

Regards,

Stu

[peter]

Thank you Stu i will try for a full image later.

Are these common and not very valuable? It came with a lot of letters, pics etc.

Peter

[Stu W]

Hello Peter,

 

These are faked like anything else although at first glance yours appears authentic. Condition, size etc. all contribute to the value. If undamaged and in the 38x26 inch (+/- a couple inches) range these run between 150-200 USD. Once you have shown a full image I'll be better able to estimate value. Of course if the additional pics and photos are in some way linked to the flag that will enhance the value. Don't crop the overview photo as I'd like to see the corner ties too please.

 

Regards,

Stu

[peter]

thanks for taking the time on this Stu,

hope these next pics are ok if not i will get more tomorrow in better light,

it measures 43 x29 inches

Peter

[Clive Sinclaire]

Hi Peter

As Stu has already said, they were signed as good luck. I think they were usually signed by neighbours and friends at home and then sent to the soldiers on the front, who carried them into battle, similar in many ways to the sennin-bara. I once donated one to Yasukuni Jinja in what I considered an appropriate gesture.

Clive Sinclaire