The Civil War transformed nationalism in American society and created a notion of national identity closely tied to flag iconography. Flag symbolism developed as the prominent visualization of nationalism in American culture during and after the Civil War. The flags of the Civil War - namely the American flag, the Confederate national flag, and the Confederate Battle Cross - grew into iconic images within American communities. Their status as symbols of nationalism, patriotism, and an American historical past often advocated by newspapers, individual citizens, and the soldiers of the war themselves, initiated an American tradition of flag iconography for the purpose of nationalism unforeseen in American culture before the war. After the war, the issues of reconciliation and of what context the war would be placed in American history also became influenced by flag imagery. With the potential for post-war bitterness and lengthened disunity, the American flag offered a symbol that allowed Americans to remember the war as the deeds of patriotic citizens and as part of a continuous American national narrative. In doing so, the American flag became the iconic symbol of American nationalism. / Master of Arts

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Patriotic education began when the Woman’s Relief Corps was established. The earliest patriotic education was done on Memorial Day rather than on a daily basis in the schoolroom. The WRC’s plan for patriotic education went into full gear in 1893. The history of the Woman’s Relief Corps and the implementation of patriotic education is a fascinating one that shows how a conservative organization of women implemented a regimented daily routine that today shows more about the women and their beliefs than one might expect. As time passed after the Civil War, more and more Union veterans died leaving the legacy to keep the memory of the War alive to the WRC. Patriotic education provided a perfect avenue to keep that memory alive as well as to inculcate the students with patriotism and how to be good citizens. As patriotic education evolved and grew, there was a pattern of changing rhetoric among educators and the WRC. This is visible when one looks at the discussions amongst the members of the WRC during and immediately after a war. Generally, during a war, the women of the WRC would step back into a supportive role of American military and then immediately after a war would take advantage of the patriotic fervor to further expand patriotic education.