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{{Short description|
{{For|the contemporary usage|modern display of the Confederate battle flag}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2014}}
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The Confederacy's first official national flag, often called the ''Stars and Bars'', flew from March 4, 1861, to May 1, 1863. It was designed by [[Prussia]]n-American artist [[Nicola Marschall]] in [[Marion, Alabama]], and is said to resemble the [[Flag of Austria]], with which Marschall would have been familiar.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/ArticlePrintable.jsp?id=h-1134|title= Nicola Marschall|date= April 25, 2011|publisher= The Encyclopedia of Alabama
|access-date=July 29, 2011|quote= The flag does resemble that of the [[German language|Germanic]] European nation of Austria, which as a [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] artist, Marschall would have known well.}}</ref><ref name="hume" />{{efn|[[Catherine Stratton Ladd]] is said to have designed the first
A monument that was in [[Louisburg, North Carolina]], claims the "Stars and Bars" "was designed by a son of North Carolina / Orren Randolph Smith / and made under his direction by / Catherine Rebecca (Murphy) Winborne. / Forwarded to Montgomery, Ala. Feb 12, 1861, / Adopted by the Provisional Congress March 4, 1861".<ref>{{cite web
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As the Confederacy grew, so did the numbers of stars: two were added for [[Virginia in the American Civil War|Virginia]] and [[Arkansas in the American Civil War|Arkansas]] in May 1861, followed by two more representing [[Tennessee in the American Civil War|Tennessee]] and [[North Carolina in the American Civil War|North Carolina]] in July, and finally two more for [[Missouri in the American Civil War|Missouri]] and [[Kentucky in the American Civil War|Kentucky]].
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 (American Civil War)|Union]]) flag, especially when it was hanging limply on its flagstaff.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{harvnb|Coski|2005|p=8}}</ref> The "Stars and Bars" was also criticized on ideological grounds for its resemblance to the U.S. flag. Many Confederates disliked the Stars and Bars, seeing it as symbolic of a centralized federal power against which the Confederate states claimed to be seceding.<ref name="The Declarations of Causes of Seceding States">{{cite web|url=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/declarationofcauses.html|work=Civil War Trust|title=The Declarations of Causes of Seceding States|access-date=February 23, 2016|quote="Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product that constitutes the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution and was at the point of reaching its consummation. No choice left us but submission to abolition's mandates, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin. That we do not overstate the dangers to our institution, a reference to a few facts will sufficiently prove."}}</ref> 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.<ref name=StainlessBannerBirth /> In January 1862, [[George William Bagby]], writing for the ''[[Southern Literary Messenger]]'', wrote that many Confederates disliked the flag. "Everybody wants a new Confederate flag," Bagby wrote. "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: "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]]'
Over the course of the flag's use by the CSA, additional stars were added to the canton, eventually bringing the total number to thirteen-a reflection of the Confederacy's claims of having admitted the [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] of [[Kentucky]] and [[Missouri]], where slavery was still widely practiced.{{efn|Neither state voted to secede or ever came under full Confederate control. Nonetheless both were still represented in the Confederate Congress and had Confederate shadow governments composed of deposed former state politicians.}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/24/us/confederate-flag-myths-facts/index.html|title=Confederate battle flag: Separating the myths from facts|author=Ben Brumfield|date=2015-06-24|publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> The first showing of the 13-star flag was outside the [[Ben Johnson House (Bardstown, Kentucky)|Ben Johnson House]] in [[Bardstown, Kentucky]]; the 13-star design was also in use as the Confederate navy's battle [[Ensign (flag)|ensign]].{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
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|-
| width=200px style="font-size: 90%; vertical-align: top;" |Second national flag (May 1, 1863 – March 4, 1865), 2:1 ratio
| width=150px style="font-size: 90%; vertical-align: top;" |Second national flag (May 1, 1863 – March 4, 1865)
| width=150px style="font-size: 90%; vertical-align: top;" |A 12-star variant of the Stainless Banner produced in [[Mobile, Alabama]]
| width=150px style="font-size: 90%; vertical-align: top;" |Variant captured following the Battle of Painesville, 1865
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Many different designs were proposed during the solicitation for a second Confederate national flag, nearly all based on the [[#Battle flag|Battle Flag]]. By 1863, it had become well-known and popular among those living in the Confederacy. The Confederate Congress specified that the new design 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 [[Star (heraldry)|mullets]] or five-pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States."<ref name="fotc"/>
The flag is also known as ''the Stainless Banner'', and the matter of the person behind its design remains a point of contention. On April 23, 1863, the ''Savannah Morning News'' editor William Tappan Thompson, with assistance from William Ross Postell, a Confederate blockade runner, published an editorial championing a design featuring the battle flag on a white background he referred to later as "The [[White people|White Man]]'s Flag", a name which never caught on.<ref name=SMNMay4 /> In explaining the white background of his design, Thompson wrote, "As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained [[White supremacy|supremacy of the white man]] over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause." Most contemporary interpretations of the white area on the flag hold that it represented the purity of the secessionist cause.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Confederate Flag History |url=http://www.civilwar.com/resources/313-flags/150182-confederate-flag-history.html#Second_national_flag_.28.22the_Stainless_Banner.22.29 |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=www.civilwar.com |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref name="GHPreble1872" /><ref name="GHPreble1880" /><ref name=StainlessBannerBirth /><ref name=SMNApril23 /><ref name=StainlessBannerNeo /><ref name=whatyoushouldknow /><ref name=MSWWood1957p44 /><ref name=FAllenp67 /> In a letter to Confederate Congressman C. J. Villeré, dated April 24, 1863, a design similar to the flag which was eventually created was proposed by General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]], "whose earlier penchant for practicality had established the precedent for visual distinctiveness on the battlefield, proposed that 'a good design for the national flag would be the present battle-flag as Union Jack, and the rest all white or all blue'... The final version of the second national flag, adopted May 1, 1863, did just this: it set the St. Andrew's Cross of stars in the Union Jack with the rest of the civilian banner entirely white."<ref>Bonner, Robert E., "Flag Culture and the Consolidation of Confederate Nationalism." ''Journal of Southern History'', Vol. 68, No. 2 (May 2002), 318–319.</ref><ref>"Gen. Beauregard suggested the flag just adopted, or else a field of blue in place of the white." -"Letter from Richmond" by the Richmond correspondent of the ''Charleston Mercury'', May 5, 1863, p.1, c.1.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2013}}. "Some congressmen and newspaper editors favored making the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag (in a rectangular shape) itself the new national flag. But Beauregard and others felt the nation needed its own distinctive symbol, and so recommended that the Southern Cross be emblazoned in the corner of a white field."</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Letter of Beauregard to Villere, April 24, 1863 |work=Daily Dispatch |location=Richmond, VA |date=May 13, 1863 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2006.05.0747%3Aarticle%3D18 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zs0VJTbNwfAC&pg=PA16 16]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Edward D. |last=Townsend |title=Saving the Union: My Days with Lincoln and Stanton (Annotated) |date=August 25, 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToqACwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 }}</ref><ref>William Parker Snow, ''Lee and His Generals'' (1867), [https://books.google.com/books?id=nTtsL3C6zI0C&dq=%22lee+and+his+generals%22+%22why+change+our+battle-flag%22&pg=PA260] <!-- quote="This idea was adopted by the Congress, on the 1st of May". -->.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=J. Michael |last1=Martinez |first2=William D. |last2=Richardson |first3=Ron |last3=McNinch-Su |title=Confederate Symbols in the Contemporary South |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2000 |page=98 |isbn=978-0-8130-1758-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERsyiUOYI4kC&pg=PA98 }}</ref><ref>Raphael Prosper Thian, ''Documentary history of the flag and seal of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865'', p.79 [https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00thia/page/78/mode/2up?q=beauregard]</ref>
The Confederate Congress debated whether the white field should have a blue stripe and whether it should be bordered in red. William Miles delivered a speech supporting the simple white design that was eventually approved. 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2005|pp=16–17}}</ref> When Thompson received word the Congress had adopted the design with a blue stripe, he published an editorial on April 28 in opposition, writing that "the blue bar running up the center of the white field and joining with the right lower arm of the blue cross, is in bad taste, and utterly destructive of the symmetry and harmony of the design."<ref name="GHPreble1872" /><ref name=SMNApril28 /> Confederate Congressman [[Peter W. Gray]] proposed the amendment that gave the flag its white field.<ref>Journal of the Confederate Congress, Volume 6, p.477</ref> Gray stated that the white field represented "purity, truth, and freedom."<ref>Richmond Whig, May 5, 1863</ref>
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{{multiple image
| direction = vertical
| width =
| image1 =
| caption1 = The Battle Flag of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]]
| image2 =
| caption2 = Battle flag of [[Forrest's Cavalry Corps]], 1863–65.
| image3 = Army of the Trans-Mississippi Flag.svg
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{{quotation|I wrote to [Miles] that we should have 'two' flags – a 'peace' or parade flag, and a 'war' flag to be used only on the field of battle – but congress having adjourned no action will be taken on the matter – How would it do us to address the War Dept. on the subject of Regimental or badge flags made of red with two blue bars crossing each other diagonally on which shall be introduced the stars, ... We would then on the field of battle know our friends from our Enemies.<ref name="autogenerated2" />}}
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.
[[File:South Carolina Sovereignty-Secession Flag.svg|alt=|thumb|The South Carolina sovereignty/secession flag is said to have inspired the battle flag.]]
According to Museum of the Confederacy Director John Coski, Miles' design was inspired by one of the many "secessionist flags" flown at the [[South Carolina secession convention]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] of December 1860. That flag was a blue [[St George's Cross]] (an upright or Latin cross) on a red field, with 15 white stars on the cross, representing the slave-holding states,<ref name="COSKI2009">{{harvnb|Coski|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zs0VJTbNwfAC&pg=PA5 5]}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2005|p=5}}</ref> and, on the red field, palmetto and crescent symbols. Miles received various feedback on this design, including a critique from Charles Moise, a self-described "Southerner of Jewish persuasion." Moise liked the design but asked that "... the symbol of a particular religion not be made the symbol of the nation." Taking this into account, Miles changed his flag, removing the palmetto and crescent, and substituting a heraldic [[saltire]] ("X") for the upright cross. The number of stars was changed several times as well. He described these changes and his reasons for making them in early 1861. The diagonal cross was preferable, he wrote, because "it avoided the religious objection about the cross (from the Jews and many Protestant sects), because it did not stand out so conspicuously as if the cross had been placed upright thus." He also argued that the diagonal cross was "more Heraldric {{sic}} than Ecclesiastical, it being the 'saltire' of Heraldry, and significant of strength and progress."<ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2005|p=5}}: "describes the 15 stars and the debate on religious symbolism."</ref>
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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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=7095 |title=Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag |website=The Historical Marker Database}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |series=Notes on Virginia |number=52 |year=2008 |publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources |title=37 New Historical Markers for Virginia's Roadways |page=71 |url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/Notes_On_Virginia_08.FINAL.Web.pdf |quote=B-261: Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fairfaxrifles.org/Photos-Fx_Mkr_Ded.html |title=2008 Virginia Marker Dedication: Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=FairfaxRifles.org}}</ref>
[[File:Army of Tennessee Battle Flag.svg|alt=|thumb|Battle Flag of the [[Army of Tennessee]], Late 1863 To 1865]]
To boost the morale of the [[Army of Tennessee]], [[Joseph E. Johnston|General Johnston]] introduced a new battle flag for the entire army. This flag bore a basic design similar to the one he had contributed to creating in Virginia in 1861 and had been commissioned in Mobile while he was in command in Mississippi in 1863. These flags for infantry and cavalry were to measure 37 by 54 inches. The white edging cross was about 2 inches wide and was often filled with battle honors. The stars were from 3 ½ inches to 4, and a 6 inch wide cross. Flags for artillery 30 by 41 inches overall.[https://confederateflags.org/army/fotcaot/#aot]
== Naval flags ==
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| [[File:Jack of the CSA Navy 1861 1863.svg|x100px|border]]|The first Confederate Navy Jack, 1861–1863
| [[File:CSA FLAG 4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg|x100px|border]]|The first Confederate Navy ensign, 1861–1863
| [[File:
| [[File:Confederate States Naval Ensign after May 26 1863.svg|x100px|border]]|The second Confederate Navy ensign, 1863–1865
| [[File:StainlessbannerCSSAtlanta.png|x100px|border]]|The second Navy Ensign of the ironclad [[CSS Atlanta|CSS ''Atlanta'']]
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| align=center
| File:A. Bonand's flag proposal 1.jpg|First variant of flag proposal by A. Bonand of Savannah, Georgia
| File:A. Bonand's flag proposal 2.
| File:Confederateproposalladiesofcharleston.png|Flag proposal submitted by the "Ladies of Charleston"
| File:ConfederateproposalLPHonour1.jpg|First variant of flag proposal by L. P. Honour of [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
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| File:ConfederateproposalJMJennings.png|Flag proposal by J. M. Jennings of [[Lowndesboro, Alabama]]
| File:Confederateproposalsamuelwhite.png|Samuel White's flag proposal
| File:
| File:Confederate States Proposed3 1861.svg|One of three finalist designs examined by Congress on March 4, 1861, lost out to Stars and Bars
| File:Confederate States Proposed2 1861.svg|Second of three finalists in the Confederate First national flag competition
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| File:Confederate States Proposed 1863.svg|Flag proposed in 1863
| File:Confederate States Proposed 1863 Amendment1.svg|Flag proposed in 1863
| File:Battle flag of the Confederate States of America (3-5).svg|Congressman Swan's Amendment to Senate Bill №132
}}
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| File:Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.svg|Flag of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] or "[[Robert E. Lee]] Headquarters Flag"
| File:Flag of the Confederate States Marine Corps.svg|7-star First national flag of the [[Confederate States Marine Corps]]
| File:
| File:10th_Mississippi_flag.png|A Polk's Corps-style Battle Flag of the [[10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment]]
| File:Perote Guards flag.svg|The first battle flag of the [[Perote Guards]] (Company D, [[1st Regiment Alabama Infantry]]). Flag officially used: September 1860 – Summer, 1861
| File:JP Gillis Flag.svg|George P. Gilliss flag, also known as the Biderman Flag, the only Confederate flag captured in [[California in the American Civil War|California]] ([[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]])
| File:SibleyFlag.svg|The "Sibley Flag", Battle Flag of the [[Army of New Mexico]], commanded by General [[Henry Hopkins Sibley]].
| File:Flag of the Confederate States Revenue Service.svg|The ensign of the Confederate States Revenue Service, designed by H. P. Capers of South Carolina on April 10, 1861.
| File:Missouri Regiments Army Banner.svg|Flag flown by Confederate Missouri regiments during the [[Vicksburg campaign]].{{sfn|Tucker|1993|p=122}}
| File:Garrison flag of Vicksburg.svg|Flag variant with 12 stars that served as the Garrison Flag of [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]] during the [[Vicksburg campaign]].
}}
== Controversy ==
{{for|use of Confederate symbols in modern society and popular culture|Modern display of the Confederate battle flag}}
[[File:Battle flag of the Confederate States of America (3-5).svg|thumb|An elongated version of the
[[File:Battle flag of the Confederate States of America.svg|thumb|A square version of the Battle Flag of the Army of Tennessee, similar to the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, but without the white fringe.]]
Though never having historically represented the Confederate States of America as a country, nor having been officially recognized as one of its national flags, the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and its variants are now flag types commonly referred to as ''the Confederate Flag''. This design has become commonly regarded as a symbol of [[racism]] and [[white supremacy]] or [[white nationalism]], especially in the Southern United States.<ref name="Chapman2011">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Roger|title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=PA114|access-date=February 21, 2013|year=2011|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-2250-1|page=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Confederate Flag|url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/confederate-flag|access-date=June 10, 2020|website=Anti-Defamation League|language=en}}</ref><ref name="McWhorter">{{cite news|last1=McWhorter|first1=Diane|date=April 3, 2005|title='The Confederate Battle Flag': Clashing Symbols|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/books/review/the-confederate-battle-flag-clashing-symbols.html|access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref> It is also known as the ''rebel flag'', ''[[Dixie]] flag'', and ''Southern cross'' (not to be confused with another use of the term ''Southern Cross'', referring to [[Crux]], a constellation of the southern sky used on the coats of arms and flags of various countries and sub-national entities). It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as ''the Stars and Bars'', the name of the first national Confederate flag.<ref>{{harvnb|Coski|2005|pp=58}}</ref> The "rebel flag" is considered by some to be a highly divisive and polarizing symbol in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Little |first1=Becky |title=Why the Confederate Flag Made a 20th Century Comeback |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150626-confederate-flag-civil-rights-movement-war-history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815064537/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150626-confederate-flag-civil-rights-movement-war-history/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 15, 2019 |website=National Geographic |access-date=June 12, 2020 |date=June 26, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2015/07/confederate_flag_removed_a_his.html|title=Confederate flag removed: A history of the divisive symbol|author=The Associated Press|publisher=Oregon Live|date=July 10, 2015}}</ref> A 2020 [[Quinnipiac University Polling Institute|Quinnipiac]] poll showed that 55% of Southerners saw the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism, with a similar percentage for Americans as a whole.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nguyen |first1=Tina |title=Trump keeps fighting a Confederate flag battle many supporters have conceded |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/18/trump-confederate-flag-battle-368607 |access-date=July 22, 2020 |work=Politico |date=July 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Reimann |first1=Nicholas |title=Majority Of Southerners Now View The Confederate Flag As A Racist Symbol, Poll Finds |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/07/15/majority-of-southerners-now-view-the-confederate-flag-as-a-racist-symbol-poll-finds/#78fc431b2c7a |access-date=July 22, 2020 |work=Forbes |date=July 15, 2020}}</ref> A [[YouGov]] poll in 2020 of more than 34,000 Americans reported that 41% viewed the flag as representing racism, and 34% viewed it as symbolizing southern heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/01/13/what-confederate-flag-means-america-today |title=What the Confederate flag means in America today |last=Sanders |first=Linley |date=January 13, 2020 |website=yougov.com |access-date=October 28, 2020 |quote=For a plurality of Americans, the Confederate flag represents racism (41%). But for about one-third of Americans (34%) – particularly adults over 65, those living in rural communities, or non-college-educated white Americans – the flag symbolizes heritage.}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2021 |title=American Electorate Continues to Favor Leaving Confederate Relics in Place |url=https://morningconsult.com/2021/07/14/confederate-statues-flag-military-bases-polling/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Tracking Poll #2107045 / July 09-12, 2021 / Crosstabulation Results |url=https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2021/07/14051637/2107045_crosstabs_POLITICO_RVs_v1_LM.pdf |page=176 |author1=Morning Consult |author2=Politico}}</ref>▼
Though never having historically represented the Confederate States of America as a country, nor having been officially recognized as one of its national flags, the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and its variants are now flag types commonly referred to as ''the Confederate Flag''. This design has become commonly regarded as a symbol of [[racism]] and [[white supremacy]] or [[white nationalism]], especially in the Southern United States.<ref name="Chapman2011">{{cite book|last=Chapman|first=Roger|title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=PA114|access-date=February 21, 2013|year=2011|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-2250-1|page=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Confederate Flag|url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/confederate-flag|access-date=June 10, 2020|website=Anti-Defamation League|language=en}}</ref><ref name="McWhorter">{{cite news|last1=McWhorter|first1=Diane|date=April 3, 2005|title='The Confederate Battle Flag': Clashing Symbols|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/books/review/the-confederate-battle-flag-clashing-symbols.html|access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref>
▲
A [[YouGov]] poll in 2020 of more than 34,000 Americans reported that 41% viewed the flag as representing racism, and 34% viewed it as symbolizing southern heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/01/13/what-confederate-flag-means-america-today |title=What the Confederate flag means in America today |last=Sanders |first=Linley |date=January 13, 2020 |website=yougov.com |access-date=October 28, 2020 |quote=For a plurality of Americans, the Confederate flag represents racism (41%). But for about one-third of Americans (34%) – particularly adults over 65, those living in rural communities, or non-college-educated white Americans – the flag symbolizes heritage.}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2021 |title=American Electorate Continues to Favor Leaving Confederate Relics in Place |url=https://morningconsult.com/2021/07/14/confederate-statues-flag-military-bases-polling/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Tracking Poll #2107045 / July 09-12, 2021 / Crosstabulation Results |url=https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2021/07/14051637/2107045_crosstabs_POLITICO_RVs_v1_LM.pdf |page=176 |author1=Morning Consult |author2=Politico}}</ref>
{{clear}}
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* [[Seal of the Confederate States]]<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the words "Great" or "of America" as it would be historically inaccurate. Those words were not in the 1863 law passed by the C.S. Congress establishing the Seal. Thank you. -->
<!--You're welcome.-->
* [[Red flag (American slavery)]]
==Notes==
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=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last=Bonner | first=Robert | title=Colors and Blood: Flag Passions of the Confederate South | publisher=Princeton University Press | date=2002 | isbn=0-691-11949-X}}
* {{cite book | last=Cannon | first=Devereaux D. Jr. |year=2005 |title=The Flags of the Confederacy: An Illustrated History |location=Gretna |publisher=[[Pelican Publishing Company]] |orig-year=1st pub. St. Luke's Press:1988 |isbn=978-1-565-54109-2}}
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== External links ==
{{Commons category|Flags of the Confederate States|Flag of the Confederate States}}
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* {{curlie|Society/History/By_Region/North_America/United_States/Wars/Civil_War/Confederate_Flags|Confederate Flags}}
* {{YouTube|qJPjWWIkakM|Battle Colors of Arkansas}}
* [https://
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{{US state flags}}
{{Six flags of Texas}}▼
{{Lists of flags}}
▲{{Six flags of Texas}}
{{Portal bar|American Civil War|Heraldry|North America}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Confederate States, Flags Of The}}
[[Category:1861 establishments in the Confederate States of America]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1861]]
[[Category:Flags of the Confederate States of America| ]]
[[Category:Flags with blue, red and white]]
[[Category:Flags with cantons]]
[[Category:Lists of flags of the United States]]
[[Category:Obsolete national flags]]
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