Image by State Historical Society of Iowa Image by 20091002-flag.jpg The "real thing" is slightly different from the replica they had been using -- the crescent is flipped.

Update November 6:

The Post and Courier reports the flag is coming home, but the journey won't be cheap. Read about it over here.

First reporting:

A red 7-by-10-foot flag has been uncovered by the State Historical Society of Iowa, and after some testing, historians are confidant that this is the Citadel's original "Big Red."

Read more stories on this subject in our flag topic page.That flag flew the day when Citadel cadets fired on an union supply ship headed towards Fort Sumter.

The Post and Courier has the tale of the flag, how it came to be uncovered, and how the heck it wound up in Iowa; read it here.

Also interesting is that the Web page documenting the "unknown flag" had been sitting on the societies Web site since at least early August.