Fifth Regiment building in 2007

 Fifth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers “Army of the Potomac” gold colored ink reunion ribbbon featuring the state seal. Weirs is mispelled. The date of the ribbon is unknown, however, it is likely to have been made for the seventh, 1883 NHVA reunion. That year, the NHVA ribbon was gold colored and included the state seal. The 1882, 1883, and 1884 reunion ribbons were the only ribbons to feature the state seal.

The club-shaped, red trefoil (three-leafed clover) in the middle of the ribbon was the badge of the Fifth Regiment. The regiment was assigned to the 1st Division of the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac. The designated symbol for the entire II Corps was the trefoil. Each division within the II Corps had a specific color for its badge; the 1st Division used red. (The 2nd Division used white, the 3rd Division blue.) The badges helped identify soldiers and units on the battlefield and in camp, reducing straggling and improving unit cohesion. While primarily a practical identification tool, the men of the Fifth Regiment developed a strong attachment to their badge, which became a symbol of their bravery, endurance, and shared identity within one of the Union Army’s hardest-fighting corps.

At the top of the ribbon is a logo featuring crossed rifles on the left and crossed sabers on the right.