8th Virginia Regiment

Often referred to as the “Muhlenberg Flag,” this banner is likely a grand division color used by the 8th Virginia Regiment, a unit commanded by Colonel Peter Muhlenberg. Grand division colors helped to identify the sections (or divisions) of a regiment on a field of battle, while regimental colors were placed directly in the center of the unit. Two other division colors from Virginia regiments are known to survive, which suggests a standardization among that state’s Continental Army regiments.

Recruited from northwestern Virginia, the 8th Virginia Regiment existed from late 1775 until 1778. Fighting in the defense of Charleston, South Carolina, and in a canceled invasion of Florida in 1776, the regiment marched north in 1777 and joined General Washington’s main army for the defense of Philadelphia. On October 4, the 8th Virginia Regiment participated in the Battle of Germantown, an assault orchestrated by General Washington. Half of the regiment, possibly carrying this grand division color, marched through fog and entered the camps of surprised British soldiers. A detachment of the regiment, however, advanced too far and became separated from the rest of the Continental Army. Over 40 of those men became prisoners of war and were held in British-occupied Philadelphia.

Now faded, this silk flag formerly shimmered a salmon color in the sunlight. The remnants of the painted banner at the center of the flag include the regiment's number expressed as a Roman numeral: VIII.