Journeymen Housecarpenters of Philadelphia

The reverse side of this historic banner is a female figure representing Columbia, a symbol of the United States, holding in her hands the nation’s flag. Set in a pristine, pastoral landscape of water and mountains, she is flanked by three Native Americans, a male and two females, to whom she is pointing out the motto of the House Carpenters’ Association: “UNION AND INTELLIGENCE—THE PATH TO INDEPENDENCE.”

The theme is one of conciliation, and follows the pattern of many labor banners in England and later in the US, that stress unity and underplay conflict.

From the exhibit “We Love a Parade: Union Banners Then and Now.”