The flag adopted by the delegates to the Louisianas secession convention in January of 1861 represented Louisianas historical roots. 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. 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). The Bonnie Blue Flag is on the right. Of 32 Confederate 1st national flags from the states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, a surprisingly large proportion of the Georgia flags (5 out of 25- 20%) bore seven stars in a circle. After taking command of the main Confederate army in the west, Gen. Jos E. Johnson adopted this variation of the Virginia Battle Flag for the Army of Tennessee. During the command of Major-General John Pemberton, the Confederate Quartermaster Department in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, (and later Florida) relied on the Charleston military goods dealership of Hayden & Whilden to furnish flags for the Department. Confederate Battle Flag | National Museum of American History [58] A July 2021 Politico-Morning Consult poll of 1,996 registered voters reported that 47% viewed it as a symbol of Southern pride while 36% viewed it as a symbol of racism. Quick View. One such 12-star flag resides in the collection of Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy and the other is in the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum in New Orleans. Our historical flags are unsurpassed in quality and authenticity. Efforts to memorialize the Confederate dead also began as soon as the war ended, but they ballooned as white Southerners reclaimed their power after Reconstruction. Available for both RF and RM licensing. 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. One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. The museum is also known as Louisianas Civil War Museum at Confederate Memorial Hall. When the American Civil War broke out, the "Stars and Bars" confused the battlefield at the First Battle of Bull Run because of its similarity to the U.S. (or Union) flag, especially when it was hanging limp on its flagstaff. Return to the Confederate Flags Home Page. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. How the Confederate battle flag became an enduring symbol of - History In 2000, the NAACP began a 15-year-long economicboycott of South Carolina because of its use of the flag. The only change was a substitution of a red bar for one-half of the white field of the former flag, composing the flag's outer end. Introduction: National Flags of the Confederacy . Many different designs were proposed during the solicitation for a second Confederate national flag, nearly all based on the Battle Flag. THE CONFEDERATE 1ST NATIONAL FLAG (THE STARS & BARS) AS A MILITARY FLAG. 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,". Nonetheless both were still represented in the Confederate Congress and had Confederate shadow governments composed of deposed former state politicians. One Congressman even mocked it as looking "like a pair of Suspenders". "[1][5] Confederate Congressman Peter W. Gray proposed the amendment that gave the flag its white field. The Stars and Bars' resemblance to the U.S. flag, combined with similarities between the two sides' uniforms and the general confusion of battle, contributed to an incident at First Manassas in which Confederate forces fired on a Confederate infantry brigade commanded by Jubal A. While no standard proportions or sizes prevailed nationwide in the Confederate States of America, a survey of 112 identified company or regimental flags from the cis-Mississippi states that conform to the pattern of the Confederate 1st national flag does indicate that several regional variations do predominate. [59][60], Drawing in the United Confederate Veterans 1895 Sponsor souvenir album. J. Hardee. / Forwarded to Montgomery, Ala. Feb 12, 1861, / Adopted by the Provisional Congress March 4, 1861". In 2015, the flag came roaring back into the national consciousness when a white supremacist killed nine churchgoers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The original flag of the Confederate States of America, commonly known as the "STARS AND BARS", was approved by the Congress of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States, and first hoisted over the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, on the afternoon of the 4th day of March, 1861. This action piqued the interest of other members of the Foundation, reenactment groups and family members. Share. Because of its similarity to the U.S. flag, the Stars and Bars was sometimes confused with the Stars and Stripes in the smoke of battle. Beauregard and Joseph Johnston urged that a new Confederate flag be designed for battle. Over the years the flag was changed by adding and . 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. But the battle flag has since been claimed by white supremacists and mythologized by others as an emblem of a rebellious Southern heritage. 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. Stars and bars may refer to: Stars and Bars (flag), the first (1861-1863) flag of the Confederate States of America Stars and Bars (1988 film), 1988 comedy starring Daniel Day-Lewis Stars and Bars (1917 film), 1917 silent film comedy directed by Victor Heerman The general consensus is that it was designed by Prussian-American artist Nicola Marschall.The design consists of a red-white-red triband (possibly inspired by the Austrian flag, with which Marcschall would . (2016). Was there a cavalry size Army of Northern Virginia battle flag? The stars represent the seven seceded states of the U.S. Ships chandlers, Henry Vaughan in Mobile, Alabama and Hugh Vincent in Charleston, South Carolina, accepted orders to manufacture Confederate 1st national flags of these sizes. The colors red, white and blue were symbolic of France, red and gold colors of Spain and 13 stripes of the United States. The Confederacy's first official national flag, often called the Stars and Bars, flew from March 4, 1861, to May 1, 1863. President Jefferson Davis' inauguration took place under the 1861 state flag of Alabama, and the celebratory parade was led by a unit carrying the 1861 state flag of Georgia. Three horizontal stripes of equal height, alternating red and white, with a blue square two-thirds the height of the flag as the canton. He argued that the battle flag must be used, but it was necessary to emblazon it for a national flag, but as simply as possible, with a plain white field. After the former was changed in 2001, the city of Trenton, Georgia has used a flag design nearly identical to the previous version with the battle flag. Despite the official pattern and numbers, however, individual examples of the Stars and Bars varied greatly, with numbers of stars ranging from 1 to 17, and star patterns varying greatly beyond the officially sanctioned circle. "Southern Confederacy" (Atlanta, Georgia), 5 Feb 1865, pg 2. Today, alongside the nations growing acknowledgment of systemic racism and widespread Black Lives Matterprotests, the Confederate flag predictably makes appearances at white supremacist gatherings. Four camp colors or flank markers accompanied each of these national colors. But though the flag had been adopted by advocates of segregation and white supremacy, many denied that aspect of its meaning and instead insisted it stood for the Southern ideals espoused by the Lost Cause. ), led to the assumption that it was, as it has been termed, "the soldier's flag" or "the Confederate battle flag. the Confederate States of America began to use its first flag, the Stars and Bars, on March 5, 1861. This is the First National Flag of the Confederacy, the Stars and Bars. The editor of the Charleston Mercury expressed a similar view: "It seems to be generally agreed that the 'Stars and Bars' will never do for us. Amid the smoke and general chaos of battle, it was hard to distinguish the Confederate national flag, the "Stars and Bars," from the U. S. national flag, the "Stars and Stripes." Confederate Congressman William Porcher Miles suggested that the army have a . The Confederacy adopted a total of three national flags before its collapse in 1865. While others were wildly different, many of which were very complex and extravagant, these were largely discounted due to the being too complicated and expensive to produce. Thus, there would have been 7 stars from 4 March 1861 until 7 May 1861, when Virginia became the 8th Confederate State by Act of Congress. Flag officially used: September 1860 Summer, 1861, George P. Gilliss flag, also known as the Biderman Flag, the only Confederate flag captured in California (Sacramento). 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 Confederacy's most popular flag. In February of 1863 the purchase of these 1st national flags ceased when General Beauregard instituted the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, as modified by Charlston Clothing Depot. Though it hassome Black supporters, it remains shorthand for a defiant South and all that implies. In the center of the union a circle of white stars corresponding in number with the States in the Confederacy. Their cantons bore eleven white, 5-pointed stars arranged in a circle. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. ", The square "battle flag" is also properly known as "the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia". As a result, Confederate military presentation flags made throughout the South in 1861 and 1862 demonstrate no common proportions or sizes. This flag proposal was the first variant submitted by William T. Riddle of Eutaw, Alabama. "Everybody wants a new Confederate flag," Bagby wrote. The winner of the competition was Nicola Marschall's "Stars and Bars" flag. Deep South. Replacing the Star and Bars in May of 1863, the first official use was at the funeral of Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson. The red space above and below to be the same width as the white. Since it is known that Hayden & Whilden from Charleston provided eleven star unit flags for the Confederate Quartermasters Department, the number of eleven star flags made in this region undoubtedly was even larger. Although less well known than the "Confederate Battle Flags",the Stars and Bars was used as the official flag of the Confederacy from March 1861 to May of 1863. From this bunting Ruskell assembled at least 43 flags, for which he was paid $11.50 each.