Company B of the 3rd Florida Infantry Regiment Battle Flag

Due to political unrest in the United States leading up to the Civil War, a group of about 70 people met in St. Augustine Florida in May of 1860 to discuss forming a militia unit. Officers were elected and the men of the unit were mustered into service in November of 1860. The unit was to be called the St. Augustine Blues. They were originally intended as a “Minute Men” company to defend the city of St. Augustine but eventually entered the Confederate Army in August of 1861 and were designated Company “B” of the 3rd Florida Infantry which was attached to the Army of Tennessee. The 3rd Florida fought at the battles of Murfreesboro, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga and also fought in the Carolinas as part of the effort to stop General William Tecumseh Sherman’s “march to the sea”. On April 26th, 1865, a month after the battle of Bentonville The Blues along with the rest of the 3rd Florida Infantry surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston’s army in Durham, North Carolina. The flag was presented by the Ladies of St. Augustine in 1861 and consists of an image of a cotton plant in the center of the design with the lettering “Any Fate But Submission” underneath. The seven stars represent the seven states that had already seceded from the Union at the time the flag was made. The date of secession for each state is inscribed on each individual star and they are arranged in chronological order with Florida being the third. The original flag is now housed at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA.

This is a reproduction of the St. Augustine Blues flag and has a vintage/aged finish. It is designed to look like the original preserved flag appears today (not as it would have appeared in 1861). The actual dimensions are not exactly the same as the original flag. The artwork is visible on both sides. The lettering reads right on one side only.