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France: Regimental flags under the First Empire

Regimental flags under the Second Empire
History of the flag of the 36th line regiment

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Regimental flags under the Second Empire

Regimental Flag of the 41th line regiment - left, 1854-60 model; right, 1860-70 model
Images adapted by Olivier Touzeau, 22 March 2025

2nd Empire model of military flags: source, Wikimedia Commons.

Corentin Chamboredon, 8 December 2024

History of the flag of the 36th line regiment

Original Flag of the 36th line regiment - Image located by Corentin Chamboredon, 7 December 2024

The book L’orgueil du drapeau : France-Allemagne, 1870-1945 [The flag hubris: France-Germany, 1870-1945] by Odile Roynette published by Les Belles Lettres [oro24]. follows the "life" of the flag of the 36th line regiment. This unit itself took its roots from a former royal regiment and endured the same changes that affected all its peers due to history and politics and its inscriptions changed with each regime. Nothing particular until 1870, when the Franco-German war brought it to the front (quite literally...) and it briefly became an international focus point. The flag, consisting of the fabric, its staff and eagle finial, went through the battle of Wœrth-Frœschwiller where its regiment suffered heavy casualties and had to hurriedly evacuate. During the retreat in panic, the fabric was pulled from its eagle and each half had a different story.

The story of the fabric, quite muddy (again, maybe literally...), is that it was hidden under a body, then was recovered by a local priest tending to wounded French prisoners, was given to the nearest noble, a count whose estate was occupied by German troops. From there it was hidden on another wounded prisoner before he was sent back to his home. After a while, his widow offered it back to the regiment, even if it was already quite damaged. At first it served as a sort of relic for the mourning of lost soldiers, but as soon as the 3rd Republic was proclaimed, it was replaced by a new official flag and was somehow hidden in the "salle d'honneur" (I don't know if there are similar places in other countries) where it wasn't particularly promoted since it was a painful memory of a defeat under a disappeared regime. Still worse, even before WWI officers complained that conscripts had never heard of this past war and showed limited understanding of the flag's importance. The final nail in the coffin was that regiment flags were not present anymore on battlefronts as the war of 1870 had proved that the quick improvement of weaponry rendered them useless and even dangerous as guns and artillery could strike always farther and more precisely. The old flag was not even among the many artifacts and pieces of art that were stolen by German troops during WWII.

The eagle was abandoned in a ditch until a Bavarian soldier fell on it (and was wounded). It was a trophy of particular importance and as such it was sent to Berlin before going to Munich, Bavaria, in a museum that made it a prized piece of exhibition. After WWI German authorities hid it as its reclamation by France was heavily resented and felt as an humiliation. It somehow survived the bombings of WW2 and was officially given back to France by general Patton in 1945, being reunited with its fabric despite having lost most of its meaning by then.

The book is quite interesting for its research on the whereabouts of the two parts, but also shed light on the inner workings of the French army. We learn a lot of micro-history and as such the book is a good reading to understand how such flags were perceived by the soldiers (in the French case, mostly respected, often more than the military institution itself, but certainly not worshipped) and by the French public at large. They quickly lost their meaning with regime changes and were relegated in rooms where few soldiers could have the chance to see them. The author explains well how, in Germany, the eagle was used by Bavarian to express their pride and will to keep their autonomy to the imperial family and Prussians in general. We learn how such flags were made (I was surprised to read the original bronze eagle, too heavy, was replaced by another one in aluminium), generally in a hurry and therefore overcharged because generals want to get rid quickly of former affiliation.

Complementary Sources : articles Franco-Prussian War and Battle of Wörth (Wikipedia)

Corentin Chamboredon, 7 December 2024