U.S. flag made from captured German flag, 1945
NMAH Armed Forces History Collection
Gift of Joseph E. Fennimore

Using a captured Nazi flag, a blue dress uniform, and some salvaged red fabric, an American soldier made this flag for his company command post during World War II. Joseph E. Fennimore was a scout with the Eighth Regiment of the Fourth Infantry Division, one of the first Allied units to hit the beach at Normandy on D day, June 6, 1944. After helping to liberate Paris in August 1944, the Fourth Division moved on into Belgium and Luxembourg and eventually spearheaded the Allied invasion of Germany in early 1945.

In 1986, Fennimore donated to the Smithsonian the flag he had made, along with a photograph of his squad proudly posing with the banner on May 7, 1945, the day Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.