Ken
.. MOC had in one of their periodical catalogs of artifacts including flags they had it listed as the flag of the 21st Va at that time, this was back in the 90's if not before. When I spoke to the curator of flags at MOC in 2002 reference same I was informed that according to the artifact record cards they had when obtained the Chambers half was notated as 1st Va.. then was changed to 21st Va at some point prior to 2000.. The Dewire half of the flag was originally listed as unidentified. Both of these items are also listed as such (1stVa/Unidentified)In the battle report of the 100thPV just after the battle itself. MOC curators later figured out that these two halves were parts of one flag, and relabeled both as 21st Va. This is what sparked the original inquiry and was brought to my attention to assist in the first place. At that time I had a number of museums that would ask for my assistance in research and identifying, authenticating various donated relics and artifacts, so many of the museum players during that era and prior knew me. The staff curators there at MOC have changed over a number of times over the years.

At a public ceremony in 2001 the decendent of Chambers reinterated his claim of the flag being that of the 21st Va not that of the 1st Va as it had been labeled. He also made mentioned that he had contacted the museum that had it (MOC) and notified them of the "error". So he apparently had a hand in its ID change to some degree as mentioned previously. When I went to MOC to see what the fuss was about, sure enough it was then labeled the 21st Va. (Nov 2001). What date it had been changed over was not known since it wasnt notated on the card.

Also knowing that majority of these returned flags had long been in the collection of what the locals call the "Battle Abby" of the Va Historical Society, here in Richmond. When I first started doing all this thats where I had to go if something flag related was in the research. This flag collection was much later transfered to MOC where it has been since...

Respects
Frederick