January 1931. Union Army veteran Orlando Learned sits with his great-grandson Edward Hudgins, age 2, showing the boy a 36-starred flag he carried into battle during the Civil War. Learned had obtained the flag during celebrations marking the fall of Vicksburg in 1863 and kept it for nearly seven decades. A battle wound had kept him from marching in the Union Army's triumphal entry into Washington at the war's end, and his January 1931 visit to the capital was long overdue. The 36-star flag was the official U.S. flag from 1865 to 1867, reflecting Nevada's admission to the Union in 1864.