St. John - War Between the States

Henry Jefferson St. John's Flag

Replica of Confederate Flag By John Turner I live in Nashville,Tennessee where the Tennessee State Museum is located. Several years ago I went there to see the Confederate Battle Flag collection for the first time. That is where I saw the original St. John Guards Battle Flag. I was impressed by it's large size, nearly 4x8ft. I am drawn to the flag because it is a variant of the standard First National Confederate Flag, a design that I have always been interested in since I began studying Confederate Battle Flags.The St. John Guards flag has a unique star pattern,one that I have never seen before, another reason I like it. After seeing the flag, I decided that I would like to have a replica made. With her kind help, I got the dimensions of the flag from the Senior Curator of Textiles, at the museum, Candace Adelson. The next step was to have it made, lucky for me,my sister, Beverly Turner is an excellent seamstress. I asked her if she would be interested in the project, she said yes. As the saying goes,the rest is history. She worked  very hard for a month to complete the flag.The flag is displayed on a wall in my living room,I have received many compliments on it.   I would like to include,in her words,the thoughts my sister had while making the St. John Guards flag: "I didn't realize what a beautiful flag design it was until the flag started coming together,and I was amazed at how large a flag it was. Also, I found myself wondering what went through the minds of the women while they worked on the original flag. How long it took them to complete it, and how much advance notice they were given before making it. I never gave it much thought before, about how much work and planning it took to make a flag. I wondered what the soldiers thought as they saw their flag wave."                                      Our thanks to John and Beverly for their interest in the history of our country.  The flag truly is an inspirational banner brought to life by a talented seamstress and displayed in a grand manner.

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26 December 2005