The History of the Confederate Flag and why it is Controversial Today

Authors Avatar

Singleton

The History of the Confederate Flag and why it is Controversial Today

   

     The Confederate Flag can represent many things, things such as history, remembrance, symbolism, and racism. Everything has a history, telling the story of the creation, meaning, and effects on society. The Confederate Flag is the most controversial flag in present day society. Cause of use range from pride to racism.

The Birth of the Confederate Flag

     The Congress of the Confederate States of America (CSA) met to establish a Confederate flag. The first flag was the “Stars and Bars”, first flown in March 1861. The flag consisted of a circle of 7 stars on a blue background and three large bars of red, white, and red. The 7 stars represented the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas being a part of the Confederate union. “Even though there was support of a flag that was similar to the “Stars and Stripes” flag of the U.S., the “Stars and Bars” design was approved by the committee”. In May of 1861, two stars, making a total of 9 stars total, were added with the addition of Virginia and Arkansas as part of the Confederate union.  In July of 1861, two stars, making a total of 11 stars total, were added with the addition of Tennessee and North Carolina as part of the Confederate union. In November of 1861, two stars, making a total of 13 stars total, “were added in claims of the addition of Kentucky and Missouri as part of the Confederate union”. “The “Stars and Bars” often caused confusion in battle amongst the Confederate and Union soldiers because of their similarity and a new flag to represent the Confederate states had to be used”. The “Battle Flag” was used as substitution of the “Stars and Bars” flag, consisting of a red background, followed by a white “X” outlining a blue “X” with 13 stars inside the blue “X”. The “Battle Flag” was also known as the “Southern Cross”. In May of 1863, the second flag, “Stainless Banner”, was used. The “Stainless Banner” consisted of the “Battle Flag” on a white background, the white giving the flag its name as stainless. The white background opened up criticism of it mistaken symbolism of truce. A third flag was adopted, the “Blood Stained Banner”, in March of 1865. A red vertical stripe was proposed by Major Arthur L. Rogers to be added to the design of the Stainless Banner. This would symbolize “the primary origins of the people of the South, with the cross of Britain and the red bar from the flag of France”. Today’s “Confederate Flag” is based off the “Battle Flag” despite never being official used as representation of the CSA.

Join now!

Original Purpose of the Confederate Flags

     The original purpose of the Confederate flags was to represent the Confederate nation and its independence from the United States. The Constitution of the United States logically stated that “any State could voluntarily leave the union when its people believed that the union was no longer serving its purpose of establishing justice and/or insuring domestic tranquility”. It provided an image of the Confederate ideals such as slavery and religion, ideals different from those of the Union states. The Confederate states wanted their own representation just as the forefathers of America wanted independent representation from ...

This is a preview of the whole essay