Not sure what this is?

[Renzo]

Hello, I'm hoping someone can tell me what this is. I don't think it's a flag and it's pretty small 9x10" it looks like it's been cut out of something bigger. It doesn't go under a black light and I'm very curious what it would have been used for....thanks

 

[mdchachi]

To me it looks like juvenile or practice writing of a non-native speaker. They tried to write something like 14th Tank Regiment along with other stuff that doesn't make much sense in context.

 

[Renzo]

Thank you for your reply and help. Was this common that non-native speakers would write stuff? That doesn't make sense on a piece of material?

 

[mdchachi]

Thank you for your reply and help. Was this common that non-native speakers would write stuff? That doesn't make sense on a piece of material?

@Majestic will give you a more detailed analysis. My understanding is that there was a whole cottage industry of natives and non-natives alike churning out souvenirs to sell to GIs after the war. If you search this forum you can find a variety of examples.

 

[Renzo]

Thank you for that information... I am familiar with the shenanigans that went on, but I thought it was more so for flags; I'm sure it would be for anything, given the circumstances.

 

[Majestic]

Yes, it looks very amateurish, like a non-native speaker/writer wrote it. Just horrible lettering, horrible spacing, phrasing that screams "non-native". These flags were made and sold as souvenirs, and if you couldn't afford a real war flag, you could buy a fake one made by an American GI who kind of knew how to write some Japanese letters.

 

[Renzo]

Is this thing a flag? It has no provisions for hoisting it on anything and it looks like it was cut out of something else

 

[Majestic]

A souvenir that looks like a flag.

 

[mdchachi]

Is this thing a flag? It has no provisions for hoisting it on anything and it looks like it was cut out of something else

How is it not a flag? Exact same design isn't it? Just because something's small doesn't mean it can't be a flag.

 

[Renzo]

Yes, but I thought flags are typically attached to something like in your picture. Maybe not in the case of this though

 

[mdchachi]

I've never seen any of those good luck flags attached to anything. I thought they were meant to be folded up and carried with you.

 

[NANGI]

Mina-san Konnichiwa!

Usage Example

Caution : この車両は「第十四タンク連隊」の所属ではありません

昭和の暴走族カスタムが米国で話題!?「竹やり出っ歯」日本車が注目される理由

「竹やり」「出っ歯」といった昭和の暴走族スタイルが、「BOSOZOKU」カスタムとしてアメリカで認知度があがっているようです。なかには本格的な族車を制作する現地のビルダーも登場しています。なぜ「BOSOZOKU」が人気なのでしょうか。

kuruma-news.jp

NANGI

 

[Renzo]

Thank you everyone for your help. I think I understand what you mean by it being the national flag whether it has Tie strings or not.... It's just different than any of the other flags that I have because it's obviously been cut out of something and not very square. You can see where they cut it out but maybe they cut it out of a larger flag... thanks

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

This is not a Japanese item, so whether it is a flag or not is irrelevant. In Japan, tanks are called "sensha" (戦車), not "tank."
The hiragana spelling of the Japanese word "ike" (行け, meaning "Go!") is incorrect, so it was not written by a native Japanese person. Koreans and Taiwanese people of that era also received Japanese-language education, so it is unlikely that they wrote it either.
Japanese characters are normally written with a brush in this context. This example appears to have been written with a pen, and the writer seems to have traced over the letters multiple times.

 

[Renzo]

Ok, thank you everyone for your help