Should We Fly the Confederate Battle Flag?
The debate regarding whether or not the Confederate battle flag should be flown from public buildings is not new, but seems to have recently come to the forefront again. The contenders for the United States Presidency have even made comments regarding their position on the matter.

Most attention is directed towards the state of South Carolina, which flies a confederate battle flag over the state house in Columbia. Also receiving their share of attention are the states of Georgia and Mississippi, which have the battle flag incorporated into their state flags.



Georgia State Flag



Mississippi State Flag

Many white southerners proclaim that it is their right to fly the flag that their ancestors fought under, as a symbol of their heritage. Whereas, many black Americans indicate that the flag is a symbol of racism and the institution of slavery that held their ancestors captive so many years ago. Undoubtedly, most people are aware that several present day racist groups have adopted the confederate symbol for their own uses.

At the very heart of the matter though, is the question that I have to ask myself, "Do we really have the right to fly this flag?". It is difficult for me to answer this question because I am a southerner by birth, and by heritage. I have several ancestors that fought on the side of the confederacy during the War Between the States and I am proud of my heritage. But does this pride in my heritage give me the right to fly the flag?

For us of long time southern heritage, to properly answer the question, we need to be familiar with the origins of the flag, and what it's original purpose was.


Battle Flag
The battle flag was not one of the recognized "national" flags of the Confederacy, which are shown below:



1st National Flag of the Confederacy



2nd National Flag of the Confederacy



3rd National Flag of the Confederacy

Origins of the Battle Flag
The design for the Confederate battle flag was submitted to the Confederate Congress by South Carolina Congressman William Porcher Miles. The basic flag design was agreed upon but it was recommended that a square flag (Miles submitted a rectangular design) would be more convenient and lighter as well as less likely to be torn during battle.

The first battle flags were issued in the field in November of 1861 to Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV). They had 12 gold painted stars on blue bars edged with white on fields of pink or rose. The exterior borders of the flags were yellow. The hoist edge of the silk flags was blue.


1st Battle Flag

This flag was issued in different sizes; 48 inches square for the infantry, 36 inches for the artillery, and 30 inches for the cavalry.

This battleflag would see 8 more variant issues before the end of the war: one cotton and 7 wool bunting issues that varied from one to the other by size, star separation and color of the exterior borders. These latter variants were all the deep red color that we are most familiar with.

All issued battleflags were not square however. In early 1864, the battleflags for Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, were received from the Atlanta Depot - and they were rectangular. Someone had obviously made an error, as Johnston's orders had specifically requested "flags like those of the Virginia army".

Purpose of the Battle Flag
Generally, each regiment of men, whether Union or Confederate had it's own battle flag. The regimental battle flag served different purposes. First, it enabled the men of the regiment to stay together as much as possible during the course of offensive and defensive manuevering by providing a visual marker.

The same dust and smoke that made it difficult for men to find their comrades on the move, made it almost impossible for observers in the rear to tell what was going on. Looking for the regimental battleflags gave the observer some idea of how the battle was proceeding.

The battle flags also gave the enemy that you were advancing against, some idea of who his opponent was.

To the men of a given regiment, the battle flag of that regiment was almost sacred. It was something to be cherished and protected. On several occasions, men are known to have concealed the battle flag of their regiment within their clothes to prevent it from being captured by the enemy. It has also been documented that men would tear their flag into pieces, with each man taking a piece to prevent the intact flag from being captured. To lose a regimental battle flag to the enemy was like losing a member of the family. Likewise, capturing a flag from your enemy provided quite a trophy.

So....Should We Fly The Battle Flag?
First, it is my opinion, that we should all strive to remember and honor our heritage. However, I do not feel that the act of flying the Confederate battle flag does anything to honor the sacrifice made by our Confederate fore fathers. In fact, I believe that we denigrate their memory by such an act.

Remember, that this is a battle flag. Men carried, fought, and died under this flag striving to liberate their homes and property from an aggressor. To trivially fly this flag today, whether in my front yard or over the state house shows a disrespect for the flag and those men that revered it over 135 years ago.

I see no fault in choosing to fly one of the national Confederate flags as an act of remembrance. They are as much a part of our southern heritage as the battle flag. The battle flag should be left alone, displayed in our libraries, museums, or to fly in peace over the graves of the men that earned the right to fly it. Let's not drag it unceremoniously into wars of words and editorials because it has already seen it's share of fighting.