Stop 5. Memorial Hall. Memorial Hall is a special place where all Massachusetts soldiers are honored and remembered. Military flags have been returned here after service in every war, including the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars one and two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. This hall was built with six types of Italian marble to beautifully display these flags.

If you take a close look, you will see that these are transparencies of flags and not the actual flags. In 1987, the original flags were moved to environmentally controlled storage. Each transparency has a description of the flags history underneath it. There are over 400 flags in the state House collection. Around the upper ring of this hall. You will see four murals of events from Massachusetts history.

The return of the colors shown in Edward Simmons mural on your right depicts the return of the flags that Governor John Andrew gave to the Massachusetts regiments as they departed to fight in the Civil War. Opposite that, you will see the Battle of Concord Bridge also by Edward Simmons. In front of you is Henry Walker's portrayal of the Mayflower pilgrims as they first sighted land.

Behind you is Walker's interpretation of Puritan Minister John Elliott, preaching to the Native Americans directly above you. The stained glass skylight contains the state seals of the original 13 colonies of the United States. The seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the center.