Jim, thanks for posting this.

While it might technically be an MSG flag, it is really a CSA variant despite the Blackwater timing, which is of course post-secession/and CSA admission of the rump govt. It seems a true MSG flag would be one corresponding to the state and the Guard in general, rather than to a "national" entity. This particular example would appear to be a national flag, not truly an MSG flag and this would correspond with the transitional nature of the period. Makes a lot of sense as a recruiting banner, though.

On a related note, I've been puzzled about what flag was flying in Missouri to represent the state over state buildings in 1860 and before... We have Price's order for the MSG in 1861, but that is another matter (state seal or "bear flag" on blue merino?) The state itself didn't specify a flag until the following century. This doesn't appear to have been an uncommon occurrence in the Southern states. A number of states seem to have gotten particular over state banners roughly half a century or more after the war. This poses problems for the historian trying to separate contemporary ACW state vs. national sentiment. It is challenging to make a "states rights" argument in the absence of a well-defined state flag when national ones were available and widely adopted--including recruiting commands such as at Blackwater.