My experience is that with the blue field and the color red, even though the U.S. flag has seven small red stripes compared to the larger red stripes (2) of the 1st National, at a distance of, say, a half mile, maybe even a quarter mile, add haze and or smoke, they look the same. Especially in a combat situations. Unless you take the time to study the flags or if you can get hold of a spy glass its very hard to tell them apart at those distances.

David