Stars & Bars: Historically Accurate CSA Flags

[John Sedgwick]

If you're like me and a stickler for historical accuracy, you'll know that the national flag of the CSA was, until late May of 1863, the "Stars and Bars" and not the Battle Flag of the Confederacy as is represented in the game. Now, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as, say, WW2 games using the Japanese naval ensign in place of the Rising Sun flag, since the Battle Flag was very popular in the CSA and it eventually found its way onto the nation's flag for various reasons (e.g., the Stars and Bars was easily mistaken for the Stars and Stripes), but nonetheless, I decided to modify the game's flags to add to the historical atmosphere. Here's a sample:



If there is enough demand for it, I may also add the Stainless Banner and the Blood Stained Banner, which replaced the Stars and Bars as the flag of the CSA in 1863 and 1865, respectively.

EDIT: Download all of the flags below in one convenient zip attachment.

Download: [ATTACH]16334[/ATTACH]
Installation: extract the relevant archives into your main AACW directory.

[John Sedgwick]

Well, since I've been enjoying the '63 campaign so much, I went ahead and made myself a Stainless Banner. Hope somebody else gets some enjoyment out of these finer graphical details too.



Download: http://the19thcentury.freehostia.com/StainlessBanner.zip (copy-past URL into your browser bar to download)
Installation: extract the archive into your main AACW directory in late May, 1863

[Paul Roberts]

These look really great!

My only concern is that it might be difficult to tell the Stars & Bars from Old Glory at a glance. Is that a problem when you play.

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks Paul!

My only concern is that it might be difficult to tell the Stars & Bars from Old Glory at a glance. Is that a problem when you play.

Only on the highest zoom levels, but I almost always play with the control overlay turned on anyway. Be sure to back up your original files though! (ACW/Graphics/CustomFactions) I'll probably upload a backup zip at some point, since I'll be switching versions anyway depending on the scenario and time period I'm playing.

[John Sedgwick]

Here you go. If at any time, for any reason, you want to revert to the original flags, just unzip this backup into your main AACW directory:
http://the19thcentury.freehostia.com/FlagsBackup.zip

[PANGI]

this looks great...how did you make it?

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks PANGI. They're hand-drawn in Adobe Photoshop, based on the original flags. I tried to reproduce the washed out wood-grain style so it would fit in with the other flags, but they still ended up being a bit more vibrant.

[John Sedgwick]

Although I doubt if anyone will ever get to actually use this in their game, I decided for the sake of completeness to make the Blood Stained Banner, since it was a relatively straightforward procedure to add a red bar to the Stainless version. To recap: when the Southern public was asked for its input on a new flag, they overwhelmingly petitioned the nascent government to keep Old Glory or something close to it, so in March of 1861, the Stars and Bars was born. This proved problematic on the field of battle, since it was easily confused with the Stars and Stripes from a distance, so in May of 1863, the Stainless Banner was chosen to replace it. But in the absence of wind, when hanging limp, it might be mistaken for a flag of truce, and that just wouldn't do. Therefore, in March of 1865, the problems that had so vexed the vexillologists were finally solved by adding a red bar at the far end, and the Blood Stained Banner was raised over Dixie... only to be torn down a month later. Guess they should've stuck with the white flag!



Download: http://the19thcentury.freehostia.com/BloodStained.zip (copy-past URL into your browser bar to download)
Installation: extract the archive into your main AACW directory in early March, 1865, if you ever get that far

[picaron]

¡¡Bravo!!!

[John Sedgwick]

¡Gracias!

If I may ask, where is your avatar pic from? It looks familiar...

[picaron]

Grandfather of Heidi?

[John Sedgwick]

Ahh, okay, that's it... from Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Thought I recognized it!

[picaron]

Yes

[John Sedgwick]

Hmm, I notice the cityscape flags in the screenshot are still using the battle flag. Did you decide not to use them, or are they not working as intended (maybe an issue with non-English versions)? I see a lot of other things different in the Spanish version - notably the Blood Stained Banner on the user interface buttons. Curious.

[picaron]

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=15059

[John Sedgwick]

Ahhh, that explains it. Nice buttons!

[picaron]

[John Sedgwick]

You don't say much, do you picaron? But that's cool

I figured I'd post this here rather than starting a new thread: I made a tiny fix for the "Victory Po" that's obscured by the AACW logo, because it bugged me. Yes, I know, I can be really anal retentive about minor details. Anyway, just drag and drop the Logo.png into your ACW/Graphics/Frontend/MainBar folder, and it will now read simply "Victory." I will leave it to the deductive powers of the players to infer that these are Victory "Points" and not, you know, Victory Poinsettias or Popemobiles or something.

Download: http://the19thcentury.freehostia.com/Logo.png

[picaron]

You don't say much, do you picaron? But that's cool

I do not speak English

[Ethan]

A very interesting contribution, John Sedgwick . Thank you very much! In our headquarter, we also have a great modder, though I think you already know him ... Picarón (Heidi's grandfather). Picarón has made a very nice series of contributions on the buttons and other things, but new additions are always appreciated...

Greetings!!

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks Ethan! Greetings to you as well.

@picaron: Simplemente pensé que eras lo que llamamos el tipo fuerte y silencioso

[picaron]

@picaron: Simplemente pensé que eras lo que llamamos el tipo fuerte y silencioso

Also I it am , But the sample

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=21008

[OneArmedMexican]

Picaron, in your screenshot there are some infantry png's I I have never seen before (the marines and the infantry brigade in Louisa, VA). Are these your own creations or have a missed a patch? They look great.

Nice work Sedgwick. I always liked the Stars and bars better than the battle flag.

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks, OneArmed. I also prefer the Stars & Bars to the battle flag, although the Stainless Banner looks nice too - the red bar seems like it was added as an afterthought. I would assume the Stars & Bars might have less of a negative connotation for some people too, although I could be wrong. Um, but I understand that's a contentious issue and I don't want to start a debate here

@picaron: Esas son algunas AARs visualmente muy completo! Tanto es así que no necesito entender español También vi a los soldados OneArmed mencionados, tengo curiosidad, así?

[picaron]

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=18227
and
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=14071







PD: The sailor made it Nikel, but now I do not find it.

Post #19

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=13677

[John Sedgwick]

Cool, thanks picaron - some great graphic mods there!

[W.Barksdale]

Sweet thanks for this!

[John Sedgwick]

You're welcome!

[John Sedgwick]

On a lark, I modified my Stars and Bars to produce a Union flag in the same style, with the correct number of stripes. Same installation procedure as above. Enjoy!



http://the19thcentury.freehostia.com/USAFlag.zip

[Ethan]

Hey, John, I love that modification of The Stars and Stripes . Downloaded and changed. Thank you very much!

Regards!