As historian John M. Coski writes, Confederate heritage organizations insisted that the flag was rightfully theirs and stood only for the honor of their ancestors. At the same time, however, the symbol was publicly claimed by those who challenged Black peoples humanitypeople like Byron De La Beckwith, a Mississippi white supremacist who murdered civil rights activistMedgar Evers in 1963 and who wore a Confederate flag pin on hislapel throughout his 1994trial. Twitter. Despite the 9:14 proportions established by the Confederate War Department, other civilian makers of the Stars & Bars soon gravitated to different proportions that included 2:3, 3:5, and 1:2. Consequently, considerable . [6] In explaining the white background of his design, Thompson wrote, "As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause." "Southern Confederacy" (Atlanta, Georgia), 5 Feb 1865, pg 2. Newsome was arrested, but state officials voted to remove the flag from the building the following month. "[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29], The Confederate Congress debated whether the white field should have a blue stripe and whether it should be bordered in red. Realizing that they quickly needed a national banner to represent their sovereignty, the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States set up the Committee on Flag and Seal. A modification of that design was adopted on March 4, 1865, about a month before the end of the Read More symbolism of sovereignty Neither state voted to secede or ever came under full Confederate control. [47], The First Confederate Navy Jack, 18611863, The First Confederate Navy Ensign, 18611863, The Second Confederate Navy Jack, 18631865, The Second Confederate Navy Ensign, 18631865, The Second Navy Ensign of the ironclad CSS Atlanta, The 9-star First Naval Ensign of the paddle steamer CSS Curlew, The 11-star Ensign of the Confederate Privateer Jefferson Davis, A 12-star First Confederate Navy Ensign of the gunboat CSS Ellis, 18611862, The Command flag of Captain William F. Lynch, flown as ensign of his flagship, CSS Seabird, 1862, Pennant of Admiral Franklin Buchanan, CSSTennessee, at Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, Digital recreation of Admiral Buchanan's pennant, Admiral's Rank flag of Franklin Buchanan, flown from CSS Virginia during the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads and also flown from the CSS Tennessee during the Battle of Mobile Bay, Confederate naval flag, captured when General William Sherman took Savannah, Georgia, 1864, The first national flag, also known as the Stars and Bars (see above), served from 1861 to 1863 as the Confederate Navy's first battle ensign. Three horizontal stripes of equal height, alternating red and white, with a blue square two-thirds the height of the flag as the canton. [15], A monument in Louisburg, North Carolina, claims the "Stars and Bars" "was designed by a son of North Carolina / Orren Randolph Smith / and made under his direction by / Catherine Rebecca (Murphy) Winborne. Beaureguard for the battle flag then named the Army of the Potomac. "[11], The flag is also known as the Stainless Banner, and the matter of the person behind its design remains a point of contention. Currently 24 Flags are on display, while 9 conserved flags await framing, and several others are being considered for conservation. As word spread about the conservation program the flag of the 10th Louisiana Infantry was adopted by a Canadian Reenacting Group that portrayed the unit. The Adopt-A-Flag Program was initiated. There are over 140 flags in the collection of Memorial Hall, most of which are from Louisiana regiments. The stars are usually arranged in a circle and number seven or more. Miles received various feedback on this design, including a critique from Charles Moise, a self-described "Southerner of Jewish persuasion." ", The square "battle flag" is also properly known as "the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia". LEE. STARS AND BARS Images of 13 Star versions of the first Confederate national flag. From this bunting Ruskell assembled at least 43 flags, for which he was paid $11.50 each. The first national flag of the Confederacy was the Stars and Bars (left) in 1861, but it caused confusion on the battlefield and rancour off it "Everybody wants a new Confederate flag,". The "Stars and Bars" flag was only selected by the Congress of March 4, 1861, the day of the deadline. Over the years the flag was changed by adding and . [note 4][20] The first showing of the 13-star flag was outside the Ben Johnson House in Bardstown, Kentucky; the 13-star design was also in use as the Confederate navy's battle ensign[citation needed]. The First National Flag of the Confederate States of America, 13 Stars and Bars Flag was used during the Civil War. Rogers defended his redesign as symbolizing the primary origins of the people of the Confederacy, with the saltire of the Scottish flag and the red bar from the flag of France, and having "as little as possible of the Yankee blue" the Union Army wore blue, the Confederates gray.[13]. Though inextricably linked with the Confederacy, the flag was never its official symbol. The Dixiecrat-era fad flag stoked its sale on everything from T-shirts to mugs and bumper stickers. Smith, Louisburg", University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "The Declarations of Causes of Seceding States", "Confederate battle flag: Separating the myths from facts", "Letter of Beauregard to Villere, April 24, 1863", "Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag", 37 New Historical Markers for Virginia's Roadways, "2008 Virginia Marker Dedication: Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag", North & South The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, "Why the Confederate Flag Made a 20th Century Comeback", "Confederate flag removed: A history of the divisive symbol", "Trump keeps fighting a Confederate flag battle many supporters have conceded", "Majority Of Southerners Now View The Confederate Flag As A Racist Symbol, Poll Finds", "What the Confederate flag means in America today", "American Electorate Continues to Favor Leaving Confederate Relics in Place", "National Tracking Poll #2107045 / July 09-12, 2021 / Crosstabulation Results", Active autonomist and secessionist movements, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America&oldid=1142855463, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2023, Articles with incomplete citations from July 2020, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles with style issues from July 2022, Pages using infobox flag with unknown parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015, Articles needing additional references from September 2021, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. That flag was a blue St George's Cross (an upright or Latin cross) on a red field, with 15 white stars on the cross, representing the slave-holding states,[38][39] and, on the red field, palmetto and crescent symbols. The first flag was raised over the capitol in Montgomery by Miss Letitia Christian Tyler, the granddaughter of President John Tyler. flag. Our historical flags are unsurpassed in quality and authenticity. It was generally made with a 2:3 aspect ratio, but a few very wide 1:2 ratio ensigns still survive today in museums and private collections. Since the end of the Civil War, private and official use of the Confederate flags, particularly the battle flag, has continued amid philosophical, political, cultural, and racial controversy in the United States. The first national flag of the Confederate States of America was created in 1861 and had seven stars to represent the breakaway states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,. Add to Plan. Only 13 flags, however, had been delivered to Major J.B. McClelland at Richmond by the battle of 1st Manassas (Bull Run), and none of these may have been distributed to the Army at Centreville before the battle. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. Adopted by the provisional Confederate Congress in February of 1861, this was the first of three national Confederate flags. The Republic was short lived and soon dissolved. This new flag spread quickly in use across the South, even beyond the borders of the seven States of the CSA. Why on some Southern Cross Battle Flags is the center or thirteenth star omitted? "[1][5] Confederate Congressman Peter W. Gray proposed the amendment that gave the flag its white field. The similarity between the stars and bars and the stars and strips caused many cases of mistaken identity during the first battle of Manassas or Bull Run in July of 1861. READ MORE South Carolina, which had defiantly flown the banner at its capitol for years,retired it that year, and multiple retailers stopped selling merchandise featuring the flag now labeled ahate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League. Heritage or no, the Confederate flag retains its associations with centuries of racial injustice. Confederate Memorial Hall is a museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana containing historical artifacts related to the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War. So Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard decided that he needed to design a different national flag so that it would . It was flying above the Confederate batteries that first opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, in South Carolina beginning the Civil War. by the flag committee on March 4,1861. Stars and Bars (First National Flag) image by Wayne J. Lovett, 24 June 2001 The flag which first flew over Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, SC in 1861. In the early summer of 1861, the army was renamed the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) commanded by Gen. R.E. First variant of flag proposal by A. Bonand of Savannah, Georgia, Second variant of flag proposal by A. Bonand, Flag proposal submitted by the "Ladies of Charleston", First variant of flag proposal by L. P. Honour of Charleston, South Carolina, L. P. Honour's second variant of First national flag proposal, Confederate First national flag proposal by John Sansom of Alabama, William Porcher Miles' flag proposal, ancestor flag of the Confederate Battle Flag, John G. Gaines' First national flag proposal, Flag proposal by J. M. Jennings of Lowndesboro, Alabama, Flag proposal submitted by an unknown person of Louisville, Kentucky, One of three finalist designs examined by Congress on March 4, 1861, lost out to Stars and Bars, Second of three finalists in the Confederate First national flag competition, Confederate flag proposal by Mrs E. G. Carpenter of Cassville, Georgia, Confederate flag proposal by Thomas H. Hobbs of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Flag proposal by Eugene Wythe Baylor of Louisiana, Flag proposal submitted by "H" of South Carolina, A Confederate flag proposal by Hamilton Coupes that was submitted on February 1, 1861, The Confederate national flag proposal of Mrs Irene Riddle, wife of William T. Riddle of Eutaw, Alabama. Because of the large number of Tennessee regiments in this corps the flag is sometimes referred to as the Tennessee Moon flag. William Porcher Miles, a Confederate congressman and Beauregards aide-de-camp, designed it, borrowing an X-shaped pattern known as St. Andrews Cross and emblazoning it with one star for each seceding state. In a Feb. 10 memo to its public affairs offices, the Defense Department said that having service members carry the U.S. flag horizontally or land it on the ground after a parachute jump is no . [50][51][52] It is also known as the rebel flag, Dixie flag, and Southern cross. Photograph courtesy the Library of Congress, Photograph by Flip Schulke, CORBIS/Corbis/Getty, Photograph by Kris Graves, National Geographic. The design of the Stars and Bars varied . Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. The name derived from the blue canton with a circle of white stars and the three red, white, and red bars in the flag's field. Beauregard and Joseph Johnston urged that a new Confederate flag be designed for battle. [56][57] A YouGov poll in 2020 of more than 34,000 Americans reported that 41% viewed the flag as representing racism, and 34% viewed it as symbolizing southern heritage. William Miles delivered a speech supporting the simple white design that was eventually approved. This design has become commonly regarded as a symbol of racism and white supremacy or white nationalism, especially in the Southern United States. Share. Email. Perry was a former colonel in the Confederate army during the war, and he presumably based the design on the First National Flag of the Confederacy, commonly known as the Stars and Bars. Although Tennessee did not join the Confederacy until the middle of 1861, four of its unit flags bore seven stars and another three had eight (all seven stars surrounding a central star). How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Over the course of the flag's use by the CSA, additional stars were added to the canton, eventually bringing the total number to thirteen-a reflection of the Confederacy's claims of having admitted the border states of Kentucky and Missouri, where slavery was still widely practiced. Contributions can be made to the Memorial Hall Foundation by sending a check, using a credit card or by contributing through the website. Adopted in February 1865, as a result from complaints made by the Confederate Navy that he predominate white color of the second national flag caused it be mistaken for a flag of surrender. Known as the Stars and Bars, the flag featured a white star for each Confederate state on a blue background, and three stripes, two red and one white. When does spring start? This pattern was embellished with the same 13 white stars that the original flag had. LEE. "A surviving Georgia flag in the collection of the, Bonner, Robert E., "Flag Culture and the Consolidation of Confederate Nationalism. The federal dark state is creating laws without congress. A lithograph from 1897 displays four prominent designs of the Confederate flag and states that the images "help in keeping within us recollections of those who gave their lives to the 'Lost Cause,' and to perpetuate the memories and traditions of the South.".