I once had an old Confederate reenactor from Central Virginia tell me he’s not a fan of flying the rectangular, well known “Rebel Flag.” He reasoned that it was not the most accurate, historically, and it had been co-opted by racists and whatnot. As I’m sure many of you reading know, it was not the flag used to represent the Confederate Government, nor was it that common on the battlefield. It was used in Tennessee quite a bit, and was the C.S. Naval Jack from 1863 until the end of the War. It proves difficult to pinpoint exactly why it got popular (to the point of almost universal ignorance of other Confederate flags), but I suspect it had something to do with its frequent use by the United Confederate Veterans. It’s a very distinct flag, and its size is symmetrical when shown next to a Federal flag in textbooks. It was also used frequently by the Dixiecrats of the 20th century. I understand that old reenactor’s reasoning about using other flags (and, I love other Confederate flags), but I have a particular fondness for the infamous Rebel Flag.
It’s clear at this point in history the flag not only represents the Confederate military or government, but the South in her entirety. It has been waved by Southerners continually since the War, and has been brought to all corners of the globe, thanks to the World Wars. It has been adopted by nationalists and advocates of limited government all over the world. It scares centralizers not because those who fly it “hate” black people, but because they know it means the man who flies it wants their power limited, and in great measures.
Theories abound about what the flag actually means (we’ve all seen those posts from our SCV friends on how it represents the blood of Christ Jesus, or something else), but it’s really not that difficult to find out. The man who designed it, William Porcher Miles, was an ardent Fire-Eater from the Low Country of South Carolina. In August 1861, Mr. Miles wrote a letter describing his flag to General P.G.T. Beauregard. He accounts that he attempted to get the flag approved by the Confederate Congress’ Committee on Flag and Seal (of which he was Chairman), but a design was chosen that reminded the Committee of the Federal flag. Mr. Miles personally believed the young Southern union should’ve distanced themselves from a flag similar to the “old flag.” He explains that the saltire was chosen to be a heraldic symbol, and he avoided using an upright cross (think the flag of England) to avoid objections from Jews and certain Christian groups who wished to not see the cross of Christ carried into battle. Mr. Miles considered the saltire to be a symbol of strength and progress. He explained that the other details of the design (colors chosen, star placement, use of fimbriation) were chiefly chosen to be distinctive, beautiful, and brilliant.
How fitting is it that the flag that has represented Dixie for all these years is one of strength, progress, and simple beauty? Southerners should not shun such a flag. Reading from Mr. Miles, I truly believe that he would be elated to know that his flag eventually became the universal symbol of his nation and used the world over to represent a cause similar to his.
-By Dixie Anon
O I’m a good old rebel, now that’s just what I am. For this “fair land of freedom” I do not care at all. I’m glad I fit against it, I only wish we’d won, And I don’t want no pardon for anything I done.
Thanks for writing this. As our enemies spend untold effort psychologically manipulating our people, trying to make them attach negative feelings about our flag, articles like this remind us and shield us from it and are vitally important. I call them counter measures because while we all recognize that things like gas lighting and the plethora of other psychological manipulations are used against us, rarely do we develop and refine counter measures to counter act them. Articles like this, whether you intended to nor not, counter act the harmful rhetoric of our enemies and their value cannot not be overstated. Thank you for sharing this.
My personal favorite take away is that committees and bureaucrats do not define us, our symbols or anything else, something I truly do love about us. Deo Vindice!
Thank you for your kind words sir. I am glad to contribute anything, no matter how small or big, to the cause of defending our people and giving them the resources to stand up for themselves. If you look up the origin of the flag, you get bombarded by the comments of William T. Thompson, a newspaper editor who said the flag was about white supremacy. It is often baselessly claimed he designed it.
Southern Independence: Strength, Progress, Beauty