I am doing the book on Tennessee's Civil War flags for our state museum. I know of the 29th Tennessee's Second national presentation flag in private hands and have information on some other flags of the regiment that I will be including in that book.

In my opinion, this flag is not authentic at all to the Civil War period. I would bet that if we could see the other side there would be no stars in the canton. Sadly there are a plethora of flags being sold as real flags or reunion flags that are made up to look like old flags. Two years ago I testified to the Bristol, TN Police Department in a case involving three flags like this being sold as authentic but when the buyer got them he could tell that they were outright fakes. The seller refused to give back his money and he filed charges against them - and won by the way. None of the three flags involved had stars in their cantons on the reverse sides - in fact most of the fakes out there are like that.

Two other clues exist for this flag not being authentic:

1) It is too small for even a company flag. Typical sizes for unit colors were 3 by 5 feet, not something this small. The flag was made to be seen by troops of the regiment as well as the enemy while in battle and it had to be large to fulfill that role. This one does not.

2) Many of the faked flags have come from "estate sales." In fact most of them have been so claimed.

If this flag owner wants to check out my claim as to its lack of authenticity he should send it to a certified textiles conservator with experience in mid-19th Century cloth and flags and have them look it over. If they come back with the flag being 100 per cent period in its textiles and sewing techniques, I will eat my words here.

Please note that the opinions above are not those of the Tennessee State Museum, nor any of its employees. I am only doing the book on contract and the opinion expressed is solely my own.

Greg Biggs