The flag is stored in a drawer at the Minnesota Historical Society, with its exact location undisclosed for security reasons.

During the American Civil War, flags played important strategic and emotional roles in battles.

It was likely sewn by a Southern woman at her home using a "flag kit" produced by the quartermaster of the Army of Northern Virginia; this work may have been motivated by profit or patriotism.

The sewn-on white stars and edging may have been made from cotton fabric, which was turned a brownish color by the acidic conditions on Civil War battlefields that resulted from the use of black powder.

[2] On the morning of July 3, 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered an attack on the Union Army during the Battle of Gettysburg.

The 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment was part of a brigade led by Brigadier General Richard Garnett, positioned at the point of a lopsided V-shape formed by the marching Confederate troops.

[2] The Union's 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment was ordered to attack the flank of the Confederate troops, and did so while protecting their own flag after the last remaining member of their color guard was shot through the hand.

Allen handed the flag to Lieutenant John Lee, who stepped on top of the Union wall and began waving it.

[3] Accounts of the capture vary:[2] After the Battle of Gettysburg, Marshall Sherman told a newspaper reporter that he had run directly toward Confederate Lieutenant John Lee, eventually holding his bayonet inches from Lee's chest and saying "Throw down that flag or I'll run you through".

[2] In 1887, a group of American Civil War veterans from Pennsylvania planning a reunion at Gettysburg proposed the return of Confederate battle flags from three units, including the 28th Virginia battle flag, in hopes of enticing Confederate veterans to attend.

Cleveland eventually rescinded his executive order; the event was successfully held without the return of flags, drawing 500 Pennsylvanian and 200 Confederate veterans.

It was displayed prominently at Sherman's 1896 funeral, but because it was not mentioned in his will, it eventually became a part of the permanent collection at the Minnesota Historical Society.

[2] In 1905, the United States Congress passed a resolution directing that captured flags from the American Civil War should be returned to the places from which they originated.

"[5] In 1998, Civil War reenactors in Virginia requested that the flag be returned[6] prior to the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

[7] The group was led by Chris Caveness, an insurance worker in Roanoke, Virginia who had found the 1905 congressional resolution and believed that it provided a legal basis for the request.

[6] Based on photos of the 28th Virginia battle flag, less than one percent of its fabric is missing, according to Fonda Thomsen of Textile Preservation Associates, Inc.