1st Irish Brigade Flag, Poly, 3’x5′

This is the 1st Irish Brigade’s Flag with the Gallic phase: “Who have never retreated from clash of spears”. The Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade, consisting predominantly of Irish Americans, that served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. The designation of the first regiment in the brigade, the 69th New York Infantry, or the “Fighting 69th”, continued in later wars.

The Irish Brigade was known in part for its famous war cry, the “faugh a ballagh”, which is an anglicization of the Irish phrase, “fág an bealach”, meaning “clear the way”. Of all Union army brigades, only the 1st Vermont Brigade and Iron Brigade suffered more combat dead than the Irish Brigade during the Civil War.