Van Dorn battle flag

noun

A flag used by the regiments under the command of the Confederate major general Earl Van Dorn during the American Civil War.

Meanings

nounVan Dorn battle flag (plural Van Dorn battle flags)

plural Van Dorn battle flags

  1. rareA flag used by the regiments under the command of the Confederate major general Earl Van Dorn during the American Civil War.

    The flag of the 4th Missouri Infantry, which may be one of the earliest examples of a Van Dorn battle flag.

    2018 January 17, Sarah Laskow, “The Museum That Keeps Now-Obscure Confederate Flags”, in Atlas Obscura, archived from the original on 25 Sep 2023
    2 more examples

    The Van Dorn battle flag had a red field adorned with thirteen white stars arranged in five rows, with a white crescent in the upper corner. The flags were bordered in yellow or white.

    1989 January 1, Devereaux D. Cannon, The Flags of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History, St. Lukes Broadfoot Publishers, →ISBN, page 63

    The Van Dorn battle flag, as it came to be called, was a red rectangle bordered in yellow on three sides. Thirteen stars were scattered across the field, and in the upper left was a white crescent symbolizing Missouri.

    2001 December 10, Robert Maberry Jr., Texas Flags, Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 91

Origin

Named after American major general Earl Van Dorn (1820–1863).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Van Dorn battle flag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Van%20Dorn%20battle%20flag

MLA

“Van Dorn battle flag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Van%20Dorn%20battle%20flag. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Van Dorn battle flag,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Van%20Dorn%20battle%20flag.

Source: Van Dorn battle flag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.