Flags of the Confederate States of America: Difference between revisions

Confederate States of America

The fourth variant of the first Confederate National Flag
"The Stars and Bars"
Use	National flag
Adopted	March 4, 1861 (first 7-star version) November 28, 1861 (final 13-star version)
Design	Three horizontal stripes of equal height, alternating red and white, with a blue square two-thirds the height of the flag as the canton. Inside the canton are white five-pointed stars of equal size, arranged in a circle and pointing outward.
Designed by	Nicola Marschall
"The Stainless Banner"[a]
The second national flag of the Confederate States of America.
Use	National flag
Proportion	1:2[b]
Adopted	May 1, 1863
Design	A white rectangle two times as wide as it is tall, a red quadrilateral in the canton, inside the canton is a blue saltire with white outlining, with thirteen white five-pointed stars of equal size inside the saltire.
Designed by	William T. Thompson[c][2][3][5][6][7][8]
"The Blood-Stained Banner"
The third national flag of the Confederate States of America.
Use	National flag
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	March 4, 1865
Design	A white rectangle, one-and-a-half times as wide as it is tall a red vertical stipe on the far right of the rectangle, a red quadrilateral in the canton, inside the canton is a blue saltire with white outlining, with thirteen white five-pointed stars of equal size inside the saltire.[d]
Designed by	Arthur L. Rogers[11]

There were three successive national flag designs that served as the official national flags of the Confederate States of America (the "Confederate States" or the "Confederacy") during its existence from 1861 to 1865.

Since the end of the American Civil War, private and official use of the Confederacy's flags, and of flags with derivative designs, has continued under philosophical, political, cultural, and racial controversy in the United States. These include flags displayed in states; cities, towns and counties; schools, colleges and universities; private organizations and associations; and by individuals.

The state flag of Mississippi features the familiar Confederate battle flag in the canton, or upper left corner, the only current U.S. state flag to do so. Georgia's state flag is very similar to the first national flag of the Confederacy, the "Stars and Bars"; a prior design incorporating the Confederate battle flag was in use before 2001.

National flags

First national flag: "The Stars and Bars" (1861–1863)

The first official national flag of the Confederacy, often called the "Stars and Bars", was flown from March 4, 1861 to May 1, 1863. It was designed by German/

However, the flag received criticism on ideological grounds for its aesthetic resemblance to the U.S. flag, which many Confederates disliked, seeing it as symbolizing abolitionism and emancipation, to which the state members of the Confederacy were all officially opposed as a matter of policy. As early as April 1861, a month after the flag's adoption, some were already criticizing the flag, calling it a "servile imitation" and a "detested parody" of the U.S. flag.^[16] In January 1862, George William Bagby, writing for the Southern Literary Messenger, wrote that many Confederates disliked the flag. "Every body wants a new Confederate flag," Bagby wrote, also stating that "The present one is universally hated. It resembles the Yankee flag and that is enough to make it unutterably detestable." The editor of the Charleston Mercury expressed a similar view, stating that "It seems to be generally agreed that the 'Stars and Bars' will never do for us. They resemble too closely the dishonored 'Flag of Yankee Doodle' … we imagine that the "Battle Flag" will become the Southern Flag by popular acclaim." In addition, William T. Thompson, the editor of the Savannah-based Daily Morning News also objected to the flag, stating in April 1863 that he was opposed to it "on account of its resemblance to that of the abolition despotism against which we are fighting."^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} In 1863, Thompson would go on to design the flag that would succeed the "Stars and Bars", the "Stainless Banner".^[5][6][7][8]

Over the course of the flag's use by the Confederacy, additional stars were added to the flag's canton, eventually bringing the total number of stars on the flag to thirteen. This reflected the Confederacy's claims of having admitted Kentucky and Missouri into the Confederacy. Although they were represented in the Confederate Congress, neither state was ever fully controlled or administered by the Confederacy. 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.

• 
  First national flag with 7 stars
  (March 4, 1861 – May 21, 1861)
• 
  First national flag with 9 stars
  (May 21, 1861 – July 2, 1861)
• 
  First national flag with 11 stars
  (July 2, 1861 – November 28, 1861)
• 
  First national flag with 13 stars
  (November 28, 1861 – May 1, 1863^[17])

Second national flag: "The Stainless Banner" (1863–1865)

During the solicitation for a second Confederate national flag, there were many different types of designs that were proposed, nearly all making use of the battle flag, which by 1863 had become well-known and popular among those living in the Confederacy. The new design was specified by the Confederate Congress to be a white field "with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be a square of two-thirds the width of the flag, having the ground red; thereupon a broad saltire of blue, bordered with white, and emblazoned with mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States."^[18]

The flag is also known as "the Stainless Banner" and was designed by William T. Thompson, a newspaper editor and writer based in Savannah, Georgia, with assistance from William Ross Postell, a Confederate blockade runner.^{[2][3][5][6][7][8]} The nickname "stainless" referred to the pure white field which took up a large part of the flag's design, although W.T. Thompson, the flag's designer, referred to his design as "The White Man's Flag".^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} In referring to the white field that comprised a large part of the flag's design elements, Thompson stated that its color symbolized the "supremacy of the white man":^[1]

As a people we are fighting 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.

— William T. Thompson (April 23, 1863), Daily Morning News^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

However, the official Confederate flag act of 1864 did not formally state what the white-colored field officially symbolized and thus, many Confederates at the time offered various interpretations. The Confederate Congress debated whether the white field should have a blue stripe and whether it should be bordered in red. As the flag's designer, W.T. Thompson opposed adding any such additional elements to the white field.^{[2][3][8][5][6][7]} William Miles delivered a speech supporting the simple white design that was eventually approved. He argued that the battle flag must be used, but for a national flag it was necessary to emblazon it, but as simply as possible, with a plain white field.^[19] In May 1863, when Thompson discovered that his design had been chosen by the Confederate Congress to become the Confederacy's next national flag, he was pleased. He praised his design as symbolizing the Confederacy's ideology and its cause of "a superior race", as well as for bearing little resemblance to the U.S. flag, which he called the "infamous banner of the Yankee vandals". Writing for Savannah's Daily Morning News, Thompson stated:

As a national emblem, it is significant of our higher cause, the cause of a superior race, and a higher civilization contending against ignorance, infidelity, and barbarism. Another merit in the new flag is, that it bears no resemblance to the now infamous banner of the Yankee vandals.

— William T. Thompson (May 4, 1863), Daily Morning News^{[2][3][5][6][7][8]}

The flags that were actually produced by the Richmond Clothing Depot used the 1.5:1 ratio adopted for the Confederate navy's battle ensign, rather than the official 2:1 ratio.^[9]

Initial reaction to the second national flag was favorable, but over time it became criticized for being "too white". The Columbia-based Daily South Carolinian observed that it was essentially a battle flag upon a flag of truce and might send a mixed message. Military officers also voiced complaints about the flag being too white, for various reasons, such as the danger of being mistaken for a

The third national flag (also called "the Blood Stained Banner") was adopted March 4, 1865. The red vertical bar was proposed by Major Arthur L. Rogers, who argued that the pure white field of the Second National flag could be mistaken as a flag of truce: when hanging limp in no wind, the flag's Southern Cross canton could accidentally stay hidden, so the flag could mistakenly appear all white.

Rogers lobbied successfully to have this alteration introduced in the Confederate Senate. He defended his redesign as having "as little as possible of the Yankee blue", and described it as symbolizing the primary origins of the people of the Confederacy, with the St. Andrew's Cross of the British flags and the red bar from the flag of France.^[11]

The Flag Act of 1865 by the

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 saltier 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.

— Flag Act of 1865, ^[10]

Despite the passage of the Flag Act of 1865, very few of these third national flags were actually manufactured and put into use in the field, with many Confederates never seeing the flag. Moreover, the ones made by the Richmond Clothing Depot used the square canton of the second national flag rather than the slightly rectangular one that was specified by the law.^[10]

Other flags

In addition to the national flags of the Confederacy, a wide variety of flags and banners were flown by Southerners during the War. Most famously, the "

The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag was square, of various sizes for the different branches of the service: 52 inches (130 cm) square for the infantry, 38 inches (97 cm) for the artillery, and 32 inches (81 cm) for the cavalry. It was used in battle beginning in December 1861 until the fall of the Confederacy. The blue color on the saltire in the battle flag was navy blue, as opposed to the much lighter blue of the Naval Jack.

The flag's stars represented the number of states in the Confederacy. The distance between the stars decreased as the number of states increased, reaching thirteen when the secessionist factions of Kentucky and Missouri joined in late 1861.^[21]

At the

The flag that Miles had favored when he was chairman of the "Committee on the Flag and Seal" eventually became the battle flag and, ultimately, the most popular flag of the Confederacy. According to historian John Coski, Miles' design was inspired by one of the many "secessionist flags" flown at the

According to Coski, the "Saint Andrew's Cross" (also used on the flag of Scotland as a white saltire on a blue field), had no special place in Southern iconography at the time, and if Miles had not been eager to conciliate the Southern Jews his flag would have used the traditional upright, "Saint George's Cross" (as used on the flag of England, a red cross on a white field). A colonel named James B. Walton submitted a battle flag design essentially identical to Miles' except with an upright Saint George's cross, but Beauregard chose the diagonal cross design.^[25]

Miles' flag, and all the flag designs up to that point, were rectangular ("oblong") in shape. General Johnston suggested making it square instead to conserve material. Johnston also specified the various sizes to be used by different types of military units. Generals Beauregard and Johnston and Quartermaster General Cabell approved the design of the 12-star Confederate Battle Flag at the Ratcliffe home, which served briefly as Beauregard's headquarters, near

The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag assumed a prominent place post-war when it was adopted as the copyrighted emblem of the United Confederate Veterans. Its continued use by the Southern Army's post-war veterans groups, the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) and the later Sons of Confederate Veterans, (S.C.V.), and elements of the design by related similar female descendents organizations of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, (U.D.C.), led to the assumption that it was, as it has been termed, "the soldier's flag" or "the Confederate battle flag".

The square "Battle Flag" is also properly known as "the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia". It was sometimes called "Beauregard's flag" or "the Virginia battle flag". A Virginia Department of Historic Resources marker declaring Fairfax, Virginia, as the birthplace of the Confederate battle flag was dedicated on April 12, 2008, near the intersection of Main and Oak Streets, in Fairfax, Virginia.^[27][28][29]

Naval jacks and ensigns

The fledgling

• 
  The First Confederate Navy Jack, 1861–1863
• 
  The Second Confederate Navy Jack, 1863–1865
• 
  The First Confederate Navy Ensign,1861–1863
• 
  The Second Confederate Navy Ensign, 1863–1865

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. It was generally made with an aspect ratio of 2:3, but a few very wide 1:2 ratio ensigns still survive today in museums and private collections. As the Confederacy grew, so did the numbers of white stars seen on the ensign's dark blue canton: seven-, nine-, eleven-, and thirteen-star groupings were typical. Even a few fourteen- and fifteen-starred ensigns were made to include states that were expected to secede but never completely joined the Confederacy.

The second national flag was later adapted as a

Designed by William Porcher Miles, the chairman of the Flag and Seal committee, a now-popular variant of the Confederate flag was rejected as the national flag in 1861. It was instead adopted as a battle flag by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee.^[30] Despite never having historically represented the CSA as a country nor officially recognized as one of the national flags, it is commonly referred to as "the Confederate Flag" and has become a widely recognized symbol of the American south.^[31] It is also known as the rebel flag, Dixie flag, and Southern cross and is often incorrectly referred to as the "Stars and Bars".^[32] (The actual "Stars and Bars" is the first national flag, which used an entirely different design.) The self-declared Confederate exclave of Town Line, New York, lacking a genuine Confederate flag, flew a version of this flag prior to its 1946 vote to ceremonially rejoin the Union.

Legal recognition and protection

In some U.S. states the Confederate flag is given the same protection from burning and desecration as the U.S. flag. It is protected from being publicly mutilated, defiled, or otherwise cast in contempt by the laws of five U.S. states: Florida,^[33] Georgia,^[34] Louisiana,^[35] Mississippi,^[36] and South Carolina.^[37] However, laws banning the desecration of any flag, even if technically remaining in effect, were ruled unconstitutional in 1989 by the Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, and are not enforceable.^[38]

By contrast, in California, legislation enacted in 2014 prohibits the Confederate flag from being sold or displayed by government agencies, except for historical or educational purposes.^[39][40]

UDC salute

A "salute" to the Confederate flag was written by Mrs. James Henry Parker of New York:

I salute the Confederate Flag with affection, reverence and undying remembrance.

It was officially adopted in 1933 by the

Template:Wikipedia books

• Great Seal of the Confederate States of America

Notes

References

Bibliography

Library resources about
Flags of the Confederate States of America

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• Online books
• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

• Bonner, Robert. Colors and Blood: Flag Passions of the Confederate South. Princeton University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-691-11949-X.
• Coski, John M. (2005). The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem. Harvard University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-674-01722-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help
  )
• Katcher, Phillip and Scollins, Rick. Flags of the American Civil War 1: Confederate. (Osprey Men-At-War Series), Osprey Publishing Company, 1993. ISBN 1-85532-270-6.
• Madaus, H. Michael. Rebel Flags Afloat: A Survey of the Surviving Flags of the Confederate States Navy, Revenue Service, and Merchant Marine.
  ISSN 0015-3370
  . (Eighty-page, all Confederate naval flags issue of The Flag Bulletin, magazine #115.)
• Marcovitz, Hal. The Confederate Flag, American Symbols and Their Meanings. Mason Crest Publishers, 2002. ISBN 1-59084-035-6.
• Martinez, James Michael; Richardson, William Donald; McNinch-Su, Ron (2000). Confederate Symbols in the Contemporary South. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. pp. 284–285.
  ISBN 0-8130-1758-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help
  )
• Preble, George Henry (1872). Our Flag: Origin and Progress of the Flag of the United States of America, with an Introductory Account of the Symbols, Standards, Banners and Flags of Ancient and Modern Nations. Albany: Joel Munsell.
  OCLC 612597989. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help
  )
• Preble, George Henry (1880). History of the Flag of the United States of America: And of the Naval and Yacht-Club Signals, Seals, and Arms, and Principal National Songs of the United States, with a Chronicle of the Symbols, Standards, Banners, and Flags of Ancient and Modern Nations (2nd revised ed.). Boston: A. Williams and Company.
  OCLC 645323981. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help
  )

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of the Confederate States of America.

• Confederate Flags at
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