Flags in movies

Flags goofs in movies

Animal House

Though Faber College is in Pennsylvania, the room used during the probation-hearing scene features the Tennessee flag. Aparently, the directors first wanted to use an Oregon flag in that scene, but the "State of Oregon" printed on the flag was too obvious. So they substituted a Tennessee flag as a "generic-looking" US state flag ... although, of course, few flags are more typical of "generic" US state flags than Oregon's own.
Andrew S. Rogers, 8 september 2004

I don't think Faber's location is ever revealed. The movie was filmed on a campus in Oregon, is based on a series of articles about Dartmouth College (in New Hampshire), and has a Pennsylvania...feel, perhaps, but the flag is the only pointer as to where it is.
Nathan Lamm, 8 september 2004

Odd. There is a rich vein of Web sites all indicating Faber was definitively placed in Pennsylvania. But we know how reliable the non-FOTW-ws portions of the 'Net can be, so I gladly yield to you on this. One site seemed to imply that Faber was positively placed in Pennsylvania in the "Delta House" television sitcom that was based on the movie (that was based on the series of articles...)
Andrew S. Rogers, 8 september 2004

Chariots of Fire

In this movie which involves the Paris Olympics of 1924, the flags on the US uniforms have 50-stars, IIRC. Not that I could count them, but they were definitely in the staggered row pattern of the current S&S, not the grid pattern of the 48-star version of 1912-1959.
Terence Martin, 8 september 2004

Gettysburg

During the 1863 battle of the American Civil War that gave its name to the movie, you see command officers gallop here and yon over the field trailed by staff officers carrying Second National flags, which were used as HQ flags in the CS Army. The problem is, no Second National flags were at Gettysburg in 1863, despite the flag having been enacted by law in early May of that year . There is a single exception to this and it is the mock-up Second National flag for the 32nd North Carolina Infantry, but as they are not portrayed in the film we'll leave this out.

The reason why this was the historical case was a wool bunting shortage at the Rochmond Depot which made the flags for Robert E. Lee's army. We have not found a single Second National HQ flag being issued to that army before October, 1863.

The second error is the incorrect version of the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag. Most depicted in the film are of the Fourth Bunting variety, which was not issued until May, 1864! These flags are larger in size to earlier ANV flags and feature larger stars that are more spread out on the arms of the blue crosses rather than the smaller stars that are concentrated on the flag's center star.
Greg Biggs, 28 october 2002

My Cousin Vinny

The setting of the movie "My Cousin Vinny" is the US state of Alabama, a fact central to the plot. The state flag is seen throughout the movie in courthouse scenes (although, incorrectly, to the right of the US flag out front). Oddly, the cover of the video box shows, hanging to either side of the judge, the US flag- and the flag of, of all places, San Francisco (which I doubt is flown even in courts there, state flags being used). The movie was not filmed in San Francisco.
Nathan Lamm, 7 september 2004

Pennies from Heaven

In the Steve Martin-Bernadette Peters remake of "Pennies from Heaven", the later plays a schoolteacher in Depression-era America. The flag chart on her classroom wall shows the anachronistic maple leaf flag of Canada and the trident flag of Barbados
Albert S. Kirsch, 8 september 2004

Plenty

In this 1985 Meryl Streep movie, Whitney Smith's Guyana flag, designed in the 1960s, is displayed in a scene set during Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953.
Andrew S. Rogers, 8 september 2004

Seven wonders of the industrial world

Last night I saw a BBC documentary/dramatisation about the Brooklyn Bridge, which showed a reenactment of the opening ceremony.

I'm fairly sure a 44-star flag was shown hoisted at the opening (rows of 8,7,7,7,7,8). Yet the opening was in 1883 - that flag would have been used between 1890 and 1896.
James Dignan, 8 september 2004

Thunderball

in"Thunderball", the Panamanian flag on the villain's yacht is upside down.
Albert S. Kirsch, 8 september 2004

WindTalkers

a movie about the Navajo code senders of World War II. There is one scene where the camera shows a close-up of a US flag flying on a pole and you hear the Navajo soldiers taking the oath of enlistment in the background. This takes place during WWII in the 1940's, yet the stars on the flag are in a staggered pattern as in the current 50 star flag. The full flag isn't shown, so I can't count the stars, but the lower right hand corner of the canton is shown, and the stars are definitely not in the rectangular 48 star pattern.
Michael P. Smuda, 28 october 2002

Unidentified flags in movies

55 Days at Peking

The movie stars David Niven and Charlton Heston. The film opens with the hoisting of the various foreign legation flags in the Foreign Compound next to the Forbidden City. A Royal Marine Band played God Save the Queen while a Union Jack was raised. It had a central device which I could ot make out, surrounded by a green garland, rather like the Colonial Governor's standards from that epoch. But of course no Governor in Peking. What could it have been? A special legation flag? (Always assuming of course that the film makers knew what they were doing)
Andre Burgers, 19 july 2004

To be or not to be

The banner appears in the Mel Brooks remake of "To Be Or Not To Be." It was a rectangular banner, hanging on an office wall. At the top (in chief?) was the Nazi flag (a horizontal red bar with the white circle and black swastika). The rest of the banner was a vertical black-white-red tricolor. A real banner or just a movie prop?
Phil Cleary, 24 November 1999

Casablanca

I have been trying to identify a flag shown in the movie Casablanca. It is painted on a wall over the legend "Ville de Casablanca" and is a French tricolor defaced with a star and crescent in the center band. The film is in black and white, of course, but I assume the star and crescent are green.
Larry Holderfield, 2 january 2004

Crimson Pirate

I recently viewed the movie The Crimson Pirate (1952), starring Burt Lancaster. While liking the movie will depend on your tastes, it does show a lot of flags and banners. The main flag on the ship of "the King" is a many divided variation of a flag of Spain. Castile and Leon dominate the upper left with at least 6 other divisions.
Michael P. Smuda, 16 april 2004

Master And Commander

In the film (set in 1805), there is a scene where the British warship disguises itself as a whaler, hoisting a white flag with a black diamond (not touching the edges). Can someone shed some light on this?
Nathan Lamm, 23 august 2004

The talented mister Ripley

The trailer I just saw on TV of the movie "The Talented Mr Ripley" (Matt Damon) shows a scene in which the star is piloting a gondola (or something like that). Behind him is a large red flag with yellow ornate, oriental type design on it.
Steve Stringfellow, 06 January 2000