The Confederate Flag PNG
In this article we are going to speak about the design and history of one of the most interesting and popular heraldic elements, The Confederate Flag, which is the second most famous American flag after the official star-spangled one.
Today, products with the Confederate Flag symbolism can be purchased in online and offline stores around the world. However, attitudes toward it are twofold. For some Americans, it signifies an important part of their family or state’s history, while for others it is a symbol of oppression and discrimination. And below we will briefly explain why.
Meaning and History
Now a bit of historical information about the largest military conflict that ever happed on the North American continent. Today we know it as The Civil War, or the War of the North and South. This tragic confrontation took place in America from 1861 to 1865. The country split into two parts: the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, also known simply as the Confederacy.
The Confederate States of America was formed on February 4, 1861, by six southern states, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, which were joined less than a month later, at the very beginning of March, by Texas. A little later, four more states, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, joined the Confederacy. As for the two other members, Missouri and Kentucky, they remained border states throughout the Civil War.
And if the North used the national flag of America, the South designed its own symbol, The Confederacy Flag. During the war, there were three versions of the flag designed, however, the one we all know today is somewhat a bit different. It was officially adopted only in 1904. But first things first.
1861 – 1863 – Stars and Bars
The very first Confederate flag was created in 1961 based on a mix of designs from the flags of two nations, the United States and Austria-Hungary. It was created by a man named Nicholas Marshall, which is why the second, unofficial name of the flag is the Marshall Flag. It was a rectangle with three wide horizontal stripes of red and white colors (the white one in the center), and in the upper left corner was placed a blue square, on which were arranged in a circle of white stars, symbolizing the states of the Confederacy. The flag got its name (Stars and Bars) by analogy with the U.S. state flag, Stars and Stripes.
1863 – 1865 – Stainless Banner
The problem with the original design was in its similarity with the flag of the USA, so two years later, in 1963, a second Confederate flag was adopted, where the main part of the rectangular cloth was colored white and a small square of red with a blue St. Andrew’s Cross decorated with a white outline and 13 white five-pointed stars was placed in the upper left corner. This symbol is known as the Southern Cross, and the flag itself was called the Stainless Banner.
1865 – Blood-Stained Banner
Since on the battlefield the white flag is a symbol of surrender, in 1865 it was decided to add a wide blood-red stripe to the Stainless Banner. A vertical segment now adorned the right side of the rectangle, and the red square with the blue St. Andrew’s Cross was enlarged. And if the previous flag, based on the name, was unstained with blood, the new one was watered with it. The name of the flag under which the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 is the Blood-Stained Banner.
1904 – The Confederate Navy Jack
The Confederate flag as we know it today was officially adopted by the United Confederate Veterans (UVC) in 1904. As we have seen above, it was initially part of other flags, but later changed its shape from a square to a rectangle and became a full-fledged banner. This Flag of the Confederate States of the South is 13 white stars inscribed in a blue diagonal cross on a red background. Each star represents one of the Confederate states (plus Kentucky and Missouri, which were border states).
The Confederate Flag Today
The Confederate flag was widely used during the Civil War in the 1860s, but after the defeat of the Confederate States of America in 1865, the flag disappeared from American view for a time. The revival of the Confederate Flag began in the late 1940s. Since then, the flag has gradually entered mainstream culture as a symbol of radical conservatives.
Today, Confederate flags can be seen and even purchased in many places in the United States. The flag has long been a symbol of extremely conservative Americans from the South who are not shy about their racist views. This is why for many Americans, using the Confederate flag in today’s reality is seen as an insult.
