 FACT: The unwieldy size of the battle flags usually carried by  infantry units wasnt suitable for the swiftly moving mounted  cavalry soldier. For this reason many of them adopted a different  design for the flag known as the "swallow tail" flag, often with  gold stars instead of white. Flags such as this became a cavalry  tradition and continued to be used throughout the Indian campaigns  in the west. General George Custer and his cavalry carried this flag  for decades after the Civil War.