WWII Flag

[Joe W.]

I see many of you long-timers have a military background (as do I).
I inherited a flag from my father who served in the Navy during WWII.
I've had no luck in determining what it represents (nation/ship related/other).
I plan on taking it to the Navy archive department in Washington DC but seeing a recent nautical pattern here in SSV gave me the thought to run it by the membership and see if anyone recognizes it.  Here tis:

     

[LarryEA]

Did you do a " Search for this image on Google" ?

[MTCowpoke22]

I hope your google search doesn't only lead to the image below. I truly wish you the best of luck. Hopefully someone here or the Naval Archives can help. Wonderful to have such as cherished belonging and to know what it stood for. 

[RabidAlien]

Looks French?  [[cracks knuckles, fires up Google]]  Could be a signal flag.

[RabidAlien]

Do you happen to know what units he was attached to?  Ship names/numbers?  Schools he may have attended?

[fredfret]

Could be an invasion flag for an army or marine unit that were delivered by that ship. Used to id the ship for returning landing craft. Just a guess

[RabidAlien]

Yep, that's what I'm leaning towards, too.  About the right size/shape for a unit guidon.

[Tomanydogs]

https://www.supplyroom.com/us-military/army/flags-and-guidons/unit-guidons/  

I found this. Not identical to the shape of your flag. 

 

[Joe W.]

On 6/18/2021 at 10:49 AM, RabidAlien said:

Do you happen to know what units he was attached to?  Ship names/numbers?  Schools he may have attended?

No - looks like I'll have to go to the Navy and see what, if any light they can shed on the flag.

[Joe W.]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:31 AM, LarryEA said:

Did you do a " Search for this image on Google" ?

Oh yeah!  Searched everyplace I could think of and came up empty. (most of what I learn these days is thru Google).

[Tomanydogs]

https://tmg110.tripod.com/usarmyh2.htm

okay how about this one. 

HEADQUARTERS, ARMY GROUND FORCES

[Joe W.]

On 6/20/2021 at 5:55 AM, Tomanydogs said:

okay how about this one

Well, I guess anything is possible.  Since he was in the Navy, I doubt it, but I guess anything is possible. 

Thanks for submitting.    

[jblock9907]

Found this: https://www.google.com/search?q=ww+ii+HEADQUARTERS%2C+ARMY+GROUND+FORCES+flag&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiA2Yij-qzxAhUjATQIHaBsBtkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=ww+ii+HEADQUARTERS%2C+ARMY+GROUND+FORCES+flag&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1CciwFYyZYBYN-cAWgAcAB4AIABX4gBggSSAQE2mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=hb3SYMCCLqOC0PEPoNmZyA0&bih=606&biw=1280&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS933US933

[RabidAlien]

18 hours ago, Joe W. said:

Well, I guess anything is possible.  Since he was in the Navy, I doubt it, but I guess anything is possible. 

Thanks for submitting.    

Back in the day, Army/Marine troops got to where they were going by hitching rides on Navy ships.  Usually cargo/supply ships, since they had space, or passenger liners impressed into service for the duration of the war.  Sailors didn't have the opportunity to go ashore and capture 'souvenirs' to bring back to the folks at home, but they did have access to better accommodations/luxuries than the soldiers did, so there would be a LOT of bartering going back and forth.  Your father probably traded some Hershey bars or something for this flag.

[Joe W.]

On 6/23/2021 at 12:51 AM, jblock9907 said:

Found this

Thank You!  I think you may be right.  It never occurred to me to consider the other branches of service.
Yesterday I sent a photo to the Navy archives to see what they may come up with.

I think my father was on a supply ship, so this may be as RabidAlien suggests - a swap of items between two service members.