# Nicola Marschall > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicola_Marschall > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicola_Marschall.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Marschall > Source revision: 1333866844 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American painter (1829–1917) Nicola Marschall Self portrait of Nicola Marschall Born (1829-03-16)March 16, 1829 Sankt Wendel, Principality of Lichtenberg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Died February 24, 1917(1917-02-24) (aged 87) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Resting place Cave Hill Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Known for Designing the Confederate uniform and the Confederate flag Signature Nicola Marschall is said to have been the designer of the first [Stars and Bars](/source/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America). **Nicola Marschall** (March 16, 1829 – February 24, 1917) was a [German-American](/source/German-American) artist who supported the [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) cause during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). He designed the original Confederate flag, the [Stars and Bars](/source/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America),[1] as well as the official [grey uniform](/source/Uniforms_of_the_Confederate_States_military_forces) of the [Confederate army](/source/Confederate_States_Army).[2] ## Biography On March 16, 1829, Marschall was born in [Sankt Wendel](/source/Sankt_Wendel), Germany, to a wealthy [Prussian](/source/Prussia) family of [tobacco](/source/Tobacco) merchants.[2] In 1849, Marschall emigrated to the United States through [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans), Louisiana, headed for the home of a relative in [Mobile, Alabama](/source/Mobile%2C_Alabama).[2] In 1851, Marschall relocated to [Marion, Alabama](/source/Marion%2C_Alabama), where he began teaching art first at his portrait studio, and then at the [Marion Female Seminary](/source/Marion_Female_Seminary).[1] During this time he briefly returned to Germany to further his art technique.[2] Mary Clay Lockett, wife of prominent Marion attorney Napoleon Lockett, requested of Marschall to take part in the competition to create a new flag to represent the [Confederate States of America](/source/Confederate_States_of_America). Marschall's design became the [first Confederate flag](/source/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America#First_flag:_the_"Stars_and_Bars"_(1861–1863)), first raised in [Montgomery, Alabama](/source/Montgomery%2C_Alabama), on March 4, 1861.[1] During the Civil War, Marschall served in the Second Regiment of Confederate Engineer Troops, under Samuel Lockett. After the war, he returned to Marion and married Martha Eliza Marshall.[1] During his career, Marschall painted portraits of [Jefferson Davis](/source/Jefferson_Davis), [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln), [Otto von Bismarck](/source/Otto_von_Bismarck), various Southern families, and Confederate and Union soldiers.[1] He was one of the few who was able to have [Nathan Bedford Forrest](/source/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest) pose for him. Additionally, he did many landscapes and religious paintings.[1] He was known to sign and date his portraits using a steel pen while the paint was still wet, at the bottom-right of the portrait.[3] Due to the economic depression in the South following the war, Marschall returned to Mobile in 1872. In 1873, he and his family moved to [Louisville, Kentucky](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky), as his friends told him it would be an easier place to gain commissions to do portraits.[2] At the [Centennial International Exposition](/source/Centennial_Exposition) in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) in 1876, he won a medal for his portraits.[3] In 1908, Marschall gave up working on portraits.[2] On February 24, 1917, Marschall died in Louisville, Kentucky. His remains were interred at Cave Hill Cemetery.[4][5] ## Gallery - *Young Girl with Cat*, 1859 - *Mary Susan Robins*, 1859 - *The Hale Child*, 1863 - *Nicola Marschall*, 1881 - *Napoleon Lockett*, 1883 ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-EOA_1-5) Adams, E. Bryding (March 21, 2007). ["Nicola Marschall"](http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1134). The Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved July 20, 2009. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-ADAH_2-5) ["Nicola Marschall: Artist of the Deep South"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090823034204/http://www.archives.state.al.us/marschall/NM_dsth.html). Alabama Department of Archives and History. Archived from [the original](http://www.archives.state.al.us/marschall/NM_dsth.html) on August 23, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2009. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ADAH2_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ADAH2_3-1) ["Nicola Marschall: Artist of the Deep South: Did you know?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025711/http://www.archives.state.al.us/marschall/NM_dyk.html). Alabama Department of Archives and History. Archived from [the original](http://www.archives.state.al.us/marschall/NM_dyk.html) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Noted Artist is Dead at 88"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66555312/noted-artist-is-dead-at-88/). *[The Courier-Journal](/source/The_Courier-Journal)*. February 25, 1917. p. 34. Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Coady, Jean Howerton (June 2, 1980). ["Stars and Bars, and a Uniform"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66555061/stars-and-bars-and-a-uniform/). *[The Courier-Journal](/source/The_Courier-Journal)*. p. 17. Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Nicola Marschall](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nicola_Marschall). - [Sarah Rebecca Robins at the Birmingham Museum of Art](http://www.artsbma.org/collectionitemdetails?searchlayout=grid&showform=0&ordering=popular&searchphrase=exact&areas%5B0%5D=portfolio&searchcollection=Art%20of%20Alabama&areas%5B%5D=portfolio&searchlayout=details&limit=1&start=0) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130720100217/http://artsbma.org/collectionitemdetails?searchlayout=grid&showform=0&ordering=popular&searchphrase=exact&areas%5B0%5D=portfolio&searchcollection=Art%20of%20Alabama&areas%5B%5D=portfolio&searchlayout=details&limit=1&start=0) July 20, 2013, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States People DDB Other IdRef SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nicola Marschall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Marschall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Marschall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.