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Column: Flags of our fathers

 
Published June 22, 2015

The shooting of nine black Charleston, S.C., churchgoers by a young man allegedly inspired by white supremacist ideology has reignited a controversy over the proper place of the Confederate battle flag in contemporary society.

While all the focus has been on the Confederate battle flag flying near the South Carolina Capitol, Confederate symbolism still adorns many official state flags in the South, some more overtly than others. (South Carolina's official state flag is actually just an indigo banner with a crescent and a palmetto.) Here's a look at some of them.

Alabama. The red cross of the Alabama flag, adopted in 1895, was designed to evoke the battle flag of the Alabama infantry in the Civil War. That's according to a written account of the flag's history given by the attorney general of Alabama in 1987.

Arkansas. The Arkansas state flag was officially adopted in 1913, according to the Arkansas secretary of state. There were initially three blue stars "representing that Arkansas belonged to three countries (France, Spain and the United States) before attaining statehood." But 10 years later, trouble brewed when legislators realized that "there was no indication on the flag the Arkansas had been a member of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865." So a fourth star was added, above the word Arkansas. "The lone star above the word is to commemorate Arkansas' membership in the Confederacy," wrote the secretary of state.

Florida. Florida's flag is similar to Alabama's, consisting of a state seal over a red cross. After Alabama adopted its flag, Florida added the cross in 1900 at the suggestion of Gov. Francis P. Fleming, who had enlisted in the Confederate army in his youth. Some historians see his choice of the diagonal cross as an attempt to memorialize the confederacy, although others say he recommended adding the St. Andrew's cross simply to keep the banner from looking like a white flag of truce or surrender when hanging still on a flagpole.

Georgia. Georgia's flag has a long and complicated history. The Confederate battle flag was incorporated into the state flag's design in 1956, a symbol of the state's opposition to racial integration, according to a report by the state Senate in 2000. The design was changed by the legislature in 2001, over the stiff opposition of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups. In 2002, Sonny Perdue was elected governor of Georgia, partly by promising voters a referendum on the new flag. In the end, the legislature changed it to a new design: It consists of the first national flag of the Confederacy (the "Stars and Bars") with the addition of the Georgia seal.

Mississippi. Mississippi remains the only state incorporating the Confederate battle flag into its state flag design. It was adopted in 1894.

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