Size: 82 in (6 feet 10 inches) x 45 in ( 3 feet 9 inches)

It's rare near perfect mint and unissued condition landing craft World War II U.S. Navy Flag is marked “US ENSIGN NO. 9 MARE ISLAND JAN 1944”. This is an extremely rare marking from Mare Island Naval Station as most Mare Island flags are solely marked with a shortened ‘MI 43, MI 43, MI 45’. There are very few Mare Island flags known to exist (most of which are held in the collections and exhibits of the most prestigious museums) marked with not only the exact month of production (JAN) but the fully spelled MARE ISLAND. This flag was produced in January of 1944...or five months before the infamous Allied D-Day landings. This flag is the exact flag that the landing crafts, LCI, LCT’s, etc. stormed the beaches of Normandy with. This flag is from the exact production line of some of the most famous flag scenes in some of the most high-end and famous museums including: The World War II American Flag flown on LCT 595, one of the first craft to land at Normandy on June 6, 1944, Ensign Flown from LCI(L)-488 on D-Day at Omaha Beach Landing, LCT 530 (Landing Ship Tank) Took in the Utah beach amphibious landings in Normandy invasion.

This flag was made at Mare Island Naval Station in San Francisco Bay, in 1944 (marked “MARE ISLAND JAN 1944"). The MI base became home to what was known as the Pacific Fleet, however, provided flags used throughout all theaters war during WWII. Mare Island’s is highly recognized for providing flags for all of the amphibious assault craft and ships in 1944 for the Normandy landings which were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

This WWII landing craft flag is in near perfect mint and unissued condition, making it one of only a small handful of WWII era 1944 Mare Island Naval flags of this mint caliber known to exist in the world. The NO. 9 type flag type is historically documented as being issued and flown on landing crafts including LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) and LCT (Landing Ship Tank). The NO. 9 marked flag is one of the most sought after MI number (No.) marks by collectors. 

Because of the high demand of military and Naval flags, unissued flags of this caliber are almost rarely seen and are reserved for high end war museums. The U.S. Navy numbers its flags 1 through 12, one being the largest and 12 the smallest. 

Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first naval base on the west coast of the United States. It is 25 miles northeast of San Francisco, near Vallejo, California. During WWII the base was used for ship building and repair. There were 46,000 workers employed there during the war. It comprised over 900 buildings, and the base closed in 1996. The flag loft employed 500 workers, 400 women doing their part by working 8 hours a day 6 days a week. Flag No. 9 was designated on the U.S. Ensign R.I.F. Chart to be hoist at 80” fly height.

The “US ENSIGN NO. 9 MARE ISLAND JAN 1944” stamp is very prominent with almost no sun damage and pristine preservation of the fabric stitching, color, and all four grommets.