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Property from the Zaricor Flag Collection: The 20th Century
Lot 219

A WWII JAPANESE "GOOD LUCK" FLAG CAPTURED AND DECORATED BY A SEABEE.
A machine-made silk Japanese national flag, 26.5 x 43 inches, overpainted by Louis Mauriello with U.S. military insignia and an illustration of a Seabee holding a machine gun.

21 November 2023, 10:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$3,584 inc. premium

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A WWII JAPANESE "GOOD LUCK" FLAG CAPTURED AND DECORATED BY A SEABEE.

A machine-made silk Japanese national flag, 26.5 x 43 inches, overpainted by Louis Mauriello with U.S. military insignia and an illustration of a Seabee holding a machine gun. Some fading and staining throughout.
Provenance: Imperial Japanese flag acquired by U.S. Navy Sea-Bee Louis Mauriello in Pacific Theater, 1943-1945; acquired by James Mountain, Ashburnham, MA. sold Alderfer Auction to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2009.

These "hinomaru yosegaki "or "Good Luck Flags" were carried by individual soldiers and were a prized trophy for US soldiers, sailors and marines. What makes this flag significant is the "sailor art" painted over the field of the flag detailing the wartime services of Louis Mauriello during his time with the 18th Naval Construction Battalion—nicknamed "Seabees" as a homonym of the abbreviation "C.B." (for Construction Battalion"). Painted over the red Japanese sun or "meatball" is a large cigar-smoking Seabee (figured as a literal bee) holding a machine gun in his front arms, a poker hand in its middle arm, and bottle of alcohol in the rear arm; this is a variation on the official insignia where the Seabee is grasping construction tools.

In each corner of the flag American insignias have been painted: clockwise from the upper hoist are those of the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, the 2nd Marine Division, and the 5th Marine Amphibious Corps representing the various command echelons to which the 18th N.C.B. was attached during WWII. The text reads "18th N.C.B. - Louis Mauriello" and also features multi-colored stenciled locations relating to the unit's areas of deployment: Saipan & Panama; Tinian & Hawaii; The Marshalls & New Caledonia; New Zealand & Guadalcanal; the New Hebrides & Pearl Harbor; the Gilberts & Eniwetok; and Cuba & Tulagi.

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