Long Live the Flags of Dixie!

In 2016, as the U.S. House of Representatives debated measures to restrict Confederate flag displays, including at national cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, writer Antonius Aquinas published a spirited defense titled “Long Live the Flags of Dixie!” He argued that the Confederate flags are remembered today almost only for their negative associations, when in fact they carry a great deal of American history, and that they reflect the same love of liberty and self-government the Founding Fathers fought for.

The Flags of Dixie

When people talk about “the Confederate flag,” they usually mean the battle flag with its blue cross and white stars on a red field. But the South flew many flags during the war, each with its own story:

• The Bonnie Blue Flag: a single white star on a blue field, first used in 1810 by the short-lived Republic of West Florida. It became an early symbol of secession and inspired the popular song “The Bonnie Blue Flag.”
• The First National Flag, “Stars and Bars”: adopted in March 1861, with a circle of stars on a blue canton and red and white bars.
• The Battle Flag: created after the First Battle of Manassas because the Stars and Bars looked too much like the U.S. flag in the smoke of battle.
• The Second National Flag, “Stainless Banner”: adopted in May 1863, a white field with the battle flag in the canton.
• The Third National Flag: adopted in March 1865, adding a red bar to the edge of the Stainless Banner so it would not be mistaken for a flag of truce.

Flags and Liberty

Aquinas’s argument echoes a view held by many Southerners: that the men who fought under these flags saw themselves as heirs of 1776. Many Confederate leaders were sons and grandsons of Revolutionary War veterans, and they believed they were defending the right of the people to govern themselves, just as their forefathers had done against Britain.

Why the Flags Still Matter

Banning a flag does not erase history. For millions of Americans whose ancestors served the Confederacy, these flags are a link to their families and their past. As long as people remember those ancestors, the flags of Dixie will keep flying.

Learn more in 8 Facts About the Confederate Flag You Didn’t Know, The 7, 11 and 13 Rebel States and Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag, and browse every flag of the Confederacy in our Confederate flag collection.

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