Flags of the Confederate States of America
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The following flags were used by the Confederate States of America. Although they have not been in official use since the end of the American Civil War, some residents of the Southern United States and some Americans in other regions continue to use the flags as a symbol of their history and Confederate flags are also used by members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist and hate groups. The Confederate battle flag (see below) was flown (until recently) over the South Carolina State House. It now flies over a monument on the state house grounds. The design of the Confederate flags was also incorporated into the state flags of Mississippi and Georgia but was recently removed from the latter.
National flags
First National Flag, \"The Stars and Bars\"
Second National Flag, \"The Stainless Banner\"
In the South, the nickname "Stainless" was held to refer to "the unspotted virtue and honor of Southerners and their fight for independence from the tyranny and aggression of northern states." The flag is often referred to as the "'Stonewall' Jackson Flag" due to its inaugural use of covering General Stonewall Jackson's coffin at his funeral.
According to the [Flags of the Confederacy] website, the flags actually made by the Richmond Clothing Depot used the 1.5:1 ratio adopted for the Naval ensign rather than the official 2:1 ratio. The flag had thirteen stars [link], one for each of the eleven Confederate states and one each for Missouri and Kentucky. (Alternately interpreted as 13 stars for each of the original colonies.)
1863 Ensign
Third National Flag
The Flag Act of 1865 describes the flag in the following language: The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: The width two-thirds of its length, with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be in width three-fifths of the width of the flag, and so proportioned as to leave the length of the field on the side of the union twice the width of the field below it; to have the ground red and a broad blue saltire thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with mullets or five pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States; the field to be white, except the outer half from the union to be a red bar extending the width of the flag.
The few examples of the Third National Flag actually made prior to the end of the war were modifications of the 1863 ensign with a red bar added.
Other flags
In addition to the national flags, a wide variety of flags and banners were flown by Southerners during the War. Most famously, the "Bonnie Blue Flag" (which actually dated from the short-lived Republic of West Florida in 1810), was used as an early flag of Texas in 1836, and was used as an unofficial flag during the early months of 1861. In addition, many military units had their own regimental flags they would carry into battle. Other notable flags used are shown below.The Battle Flag
The flag is also properly known as the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.
This flag proved so popular, that it became basis for the Second National flag of the Confederacy (see above). Some prefer the square proportions of this flag over Miles' original rectangle as more sonorous and more distinct.
The Navy Jack (colloquially called the \"Rebel Flag\")
The Confederate Navy Jack, also called "The Southern Cross," is a rectangular precursor of the Battle Flag, usually about 5×3 feet. The blue color in the saltire (the diagonal cross) is much lighter than in the Battle Flag, and it was flown only on Confederate ships from 1863 to 1865.
The design was originally made by South Carolina Congressman William Porcher Miles with the intent to be the first national flag, but it was rejected by the Confederate government for looking too much like crossed suspenders (British English = braces). It was used by a few army units, including the Army of Tennessee as their battle flag from 1864-1865. (After General Joseph Johnston took command of the Army of Tennessee from Braxton Bragg, he ordered its army-wide implementation to improve morale and avoid confusion.) Today, it is the most universally recognized symbol of the South, where it is commonly called the rebel or Dixie flag. This flag is often erroneously called "the Confederate Flag". (This Flag has also been incorrectly referred to as the Stars and Bars, although this is generally accepted as fact, the real Stars and Bars is the First National Flag.)
Sometimes, the saltire is described as a "Saint Andrew's Cross." But it is unclear if this was the original intent, since Miles' proposals never mentioned this. "St. Andrew's cross" refers either to the national Flag of Scotland (a white saltire over a blue field), or the naval jack of Russia (a blue saltire on a white field). St. Andrew is said to have been martyred on a diagonal cross and is a patron saint of both Russia and Scotland. A legend dating from medieval times held that Saint Andrew's remains and relics washed up on Scottish shores, after a ship intended to convey them for safe keeping in a remote monastery was lost at sea. Most of the white Southern elite at the time of the War traced their ancestry to Britain, and Southern elites tended to identify their heritage as Anglo-Saxon, although much of the white population were in fact either Scots or Scots-Irish during the 19th century.
After the War
For some time in the Reconstruction period, public display of any of the Confederate flags was illegal in the states occupied by Federal troops.Controversy
Displaying the flag
What is usually called "The Confederate Flag" or "The Confederate Battle Flag" (actually the Navy Jack as explained above) is still a widely-recognized symbol. The display of the flag is a controversial and very emotional issue, generally because of disagreement over exactly what it symbolizes. To many in the US South it is simply a symbol of their heritage and pride in their ancestors who held out during years of war under terrible odds and sacrifice. Others see it as a symbol of the institution of slavery, or of the Jim Crow laws established by the many Southern states enforcing racial segregation within their borders for almost a century later. It can also be used to tell others that there are guns in the household. The Confederate battle flag is a controversial symbol in contemporary American politics. Because of its link to slavery and because Southern opponents of the Civil Rights Movement, the Ku Klux Klan, American neo-Nazis, and other white supremacists have used the flag as a symbol for their causes, many Americans, particularly African Americans, consider it a racist symbol akin to the Nazi swastika. As a result, there have been numerous political fights over the use of the Confederate battle flag in Southern state flags, at sporting events at Southern universities, and on public buildings. According to Civil War historian and southerner Shelby Foote, the flag traditionally represented the south's resistance to northern political dominance generally; it became racially charged during the Civil Rights Movement, when protecting segregation suddenly became the focal point of that resistance.
On April 12, 2000, the South Carolina state senate passed a bill to remove the flag of the former Confederate States of America from on top of the statehouse dome by a majority vote of 36 to 7. Placed there in 1962, according to one [local news report], "the new bill specified that a more traditional version of the battle flag would be flown in front of the Capitol next to a monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers." The bill then went to the House, where it encountered some difficulty. But on May 18, 2000, after the bill was modified to ensure that the height of the flag's new pole would be 30 feet, it was passed by a majority of 66 to 43, and Governor Jim Hodges signed the bill five days later. On July 1, the flag was removed from the South Carolina statehouse. Current state law prohibits the flag's removal from the statehouse grounds without additional legislation. Police were placed to guard this flag after several attempts by individuals to remove it. Some regard the flag as easier to see in that location than when it was atop the State House Dome.
More recent studies, however, show changing attitudes toward the Confederate battle flag, particularly among blacks - perhaps due to media reports of the issue stemming from legislative battles regarding the flag's official use in Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. In 2005, two Western Carolina University researchers found that 74% of U.S. African-Americans polled favored removal of the flag from the South Carolina Capitol building. [Cooper & Knotts, 2005] As battle lines over the use of the flag have (again) hardened, the NAACP and many civil rights groups have attacked the flag. Other groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans have actively protested the use of any Confederate flags by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, stating that the hate groups are blemishing the memory of the ancestors of the SCV. Some members of the SCV have even faced down Klansmen at their rallies and marches, to protest the inappropriate usage of these flags. The NAACP maintains an official boycott of South Carolina, citing its continued use of the battle flag on its Statehouse grounds.
Dukes of Hazzard
While the popular TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" aired in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the prominent rebel flag on the roof of the 1969 Dodge Charger, "General Lee" was not big news. When the movie version of the show came out in summer 2005, the issue was directly addressed in the movie when the car received a mixed reaction from residents of Atlanta.
Usage in state flags
In 1955, the Georgia state flag was redesigned to incorporate the Confederate Battle Flag. This later became a subject of controversy in the 1980s and 1990s, and in January 2001, a new design was adopted intending to recognize the Confederate Battle Flag's historical significance while minimizing its prominence. Voter backlash in 2002 booted the Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes over the issue, giving way for Sonny Perdue, the state's first Republican Governor since the 1870s. In 2003, because of the continued controversy, the flag was redesigned yet again, without any image of the Confederate Battle Flag, although the 2003 design is an adaptation of the First National Flag of the Confederacy, known as the "Stars and Bars." In March of 2004, another vote was taken giving voters the opportunity to choose between the two most recent designs of the flag, but specifically excluded the Confederate Flag version of 1956.
The Confederate Battle Flag became a part of the Mississippi state flag in 1894, whereupon a strange series of events ensued. In 1906, the flag statutes were omitted by error from the new legal code of the state, leaving Mississippi without an official flag. The omission was not discovered until 1993, when a lawsuit filed by the NAACP regarding the flag was being reviewed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. In 2000, the Governor of Mississippi Ronnie Musgrove issued an executive order making the flag official. After continued controversy, the decision was turned over to citizens of the state, who, on April 17, 2001, voted 2-1 to keep the Confederate Battle Flag emblem on the state flag [link].
Also at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) the Rebel Flag was very prevalent at the football games because the team's name, the Rebels. However, the administration banned sticks at football games in an attempt to rid the stadium of the flags, which they believed hampered them in recruiting black athletes and they also believed they were discriminatory and were bad for the public image of Ole Miss (which had already had its share of bad experiences with race relations, e.g., James Meredith).
The flags of Alabama and Florida both contain a red saltire, which some view as representing the blue saltire of the "Southern Cross". The Arkansas flag also uses a design that is reminiscent of the Confederate Battle Flag.
License plates
In Georgia[link], North Carolina [link], Alabama[link], Maryland [link], Mississippi [link], South Carolina [link], Tennessee[link], Virginia [link] and Louisiana vehicle owners can request a license plate from the state featuring the Sons of Confederate Veterans logo, which incorporates the square Confederate Battle Flag. The North Carolina appellate court upheld the issuance of such license plates in [SONS OF CONFEDERATE v. DMV] (1998) and noted: "We are aware of the sensitivity of many of our citizens to the display of the Confederate flag. Whether the display of the Confederate flag on state-issued license plates represents sound public policy is not an issue presented to this Court in this case. That is an issue for our General Assembly."See also
External links
- 1860s Harper's Weekly Images Containing [Confederate Flag]
- [A Brief History of the Confederate Flags] from Mississippi History Now
- [Flags of the Confederacy] website
- [Georgia secession flags]
- [Black man protesting over NAACP involvement in the issue]
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