Alabama's giant flap

I recently saw a giant Confederate flag flying proudly over Interstate 65 in Alabama, and it stirred in me many emotions. I feel certain this was the intent of the folks who raised it, for it is the largest standard I have ever seen, visible for miles.

I was filled with a complex mixture of pride and shame. I am a proud Southerner. And I am shamed by the ignorance of those who proclaim to laud my heritage.

During the Civil War, confederates fought under many battle flags. A common one was the Southern Cross, or the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was a square banner and no doubt stirred many emotions in those who gallantly fought and died under it.


A rectangular version saw some use in the war.
It flew as a naval jack on Confederate ships that were in port. It is this naval jack that the Sons of Confederate Veterans have overblown and hoisted above I-65, some 200 miles from the port of Mobile.

Well, perhaps we can forgive this historical-heritage group its errors in geography.

But the main problem lies in the flag's use, not in its location. The battle flag is so called because it was used in times of battle for like-minded Southerners to recognize their confederates in the fog of war, be it the slaughter of Antietam or the blinding anger of segregation.

Which battle is the SCV fighting? Are they still fighting the battles of the Civil War? Of course not; that is patently ridiculous. Those battles have been over a long time. Defeat is part of the heritage.

However, the battle flag has flown during a more recent campaign. Perhaps it is this battle the Sons are fighting.

In 1956, two years after Brown v. Board, Georgia incorporated the battle flag into its state flag as a symbol of defiance against integration. Recently, after many heated arguments and many hurt feelings, Georgia has settled on a new flag that salutes its heritage without stirring the anger and hate of the memories of slavery and segregation.

The new flag is a return to Georgia's vexillological roots. It reflects the First National Confederate flag.

In 1963, during Attorney General Robert Kennedy's visit to Alabama, Gov. George Wallace raised the battle flag over the statehouse in defiance of federal efforts at integration. The offending fabric was removed during a renovation of the statehouse in 1992. It never found it's way back.

Perhaps most famously, South Carolina raised the battle flag over its statehouse in 1962 by a vote of its all-white legislature. South Carolina has since replaced the inaccurately shaped rectangular flag with a more traditional, square banner. Considering the state to be hatemongering, the NAACP continues to boycott South Carolina's tourism industry.

The Confederate States of America had a national flag — three, in fact. The first was designed by an Alabamian, Nicola Marschall in 1861. It is that flag the Sons should be flying if they are truly intent on hyping our entire Southern heritage and not simply the hate part of it.
For better or for worse, the battle flag has become a symbol of hatred akin to (and often in conjunction with) burning crosses, which once stood for purity, and swastikas, which once stood for balance and harmony.

Again, I ask: What battle are you fighting, Sons?