BUY Rebel Flags For SaleIn 2016, the state flags that lined a busy tunnel connecting the U.S. Capitol to the House office buildings came down during a construction project. It was not routine redecorating. The change followed months of controversy over state flags with Confederate imagery. In place of the flags, the tunnel now displays each state’s quarter, so Alabama is represented by its Helen Keller quarter instead of its state flag.
How It Started
After the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, some members of Congress pushed to remove the Mississippi state flag from the Capitol. At the time, Mississippi’s flag included the Confederate battle flag in its upper corner. Rather than remove just one state’s flag, House officials took down all 50 and replaced them with something no one could object to: the state quarters.
The Alabama Flag
Alabama’s flag was adopted in 1895. It shows a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a white field. The design is widely believed to have been inspired by the Confederate battle flag, which uses the same St. Andrew’s cross. That connection is why Alabama’s flag was swept up in the debate, even though it contains no stars, no blue and no direct copy of any Confederate flag.
The Helen Keller Quarter
Alabama’s state quarter, released in 2003, honors Helen Keller, the Tuscumbia, Alabama native who overcame blindness and deafness to become a world-famous author and speaker. It is the only U.S. circulating coin with Braille on it. Helen Keller is a figure all Alabamians can be proud of, but many people felt her quarter was no substitute for the state’s own flag.
More Than Just Flags
For many Southerners, the tunnel change was a small but telling sign of the times. A state flag represents the whole history and people of a state. Taking it down because of what some people think it resembles is a step many found hard to accept.
Learn more about the symbols behind these flags in 8 Facts About the Confederate Flag You Didn’t Know, and browse our Confederate flag collection.
Source: AL.com: Helen Keller quarter replaces Alabama flag as Congress removes Capitol banners
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