National Colors of the 2nd O.V.V.H.A.

This silk flag served as the national colors of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery. The flag was manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1861 and 1863. There are 34 gold-painted stars on a blue canton. The stars are arranged in two concentric ovals surrounding one middle star. There is also one star in each of the canton's four corners. The flag has thirteen alternating red and white stripes and gold fringe on its top, right, and bottom sides. Text in the flag's red stripes reads: "2nd REGIMENT/ HEAVY ARTILLERY / OHIO VOLUNT[...]." Some of the text is no longer legible or intact due to deterioration. Ohio battle flags were on display at the Ohio Statehouse until the 1960s, when the state formed a committee to oversee the efforts to restore the fragile flags. Some of the battle flags were on display on the Plaza Level of the Ohio Historical Society from 1970 until 1989. For conservation reasons, the flags have been in storage since 1989. In the 1960s, the collection was photographed and commercial artist Robert Needham painted illustrations of many Civil War flags. Photographs of the flags and the paintings are now part of the society's archival collections