Flag 26th/50th Alabama Infantry
Catalogue No. 86.3943.1
(PN10204-10205)
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Provenance Reconstruction:

Organized in March 1862, this regiment was originally designated as the 26th Alabama Infantry. This designation was later changed to the 50th Alabama Infantry. The date that this flag was issued is unknown, however, its use will post date December 1863 when Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the Army of Tennessee. Johnston had new battle flags of this pattern issued in the early spring, 1864.

Following the war, former Lt. Colonel Newton Nash Clements apparently retained possession of the flag. Dr. Thomas Owen, Director, Alabama Department of Archives and History, began writing Mrs. N. N. Clements concerning the flag on October 22, 1904. Over the years, he continued to request the donation of the flag which was finally forwarded to the Department on August 7, 1909. The flag was donated by Mrs. Clements and her daughter Miss Belle Cements. The accession log entry of August 12, 1909 describes the flag as "badly mutilated".

Sources:
       Curator's Object Files, Civil War Flags, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
       Madaus, Howard Michael. The Battle Flags of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1976.
       U.S. War Department. War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.