WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHESTER I-95 FLAG?

The Virginia Flaggers, a group that places Confederate Highway Memorial Battle Flags at sites around the commonwealth, is performing site improvements to the flag location on I-95 and has temporarily removed the flag and flag pole. The work is expected to be completed this fall and the flag will return with a re-dedication ceremony. The Flaggers have 25 other flag locations, including 14 in and around Danville where the City Council voted to remove a Third National Confederate Flag from the grounds of the Sutherlin Mansion. The group promises to stand up to efforts to remove Confederate flags.

Key Takeaways:

• The I-95 Chester flag site was the first Highway Memorial Battle Flag raised in the Commonwealth.
• The Virginia Flaggers Highway Memorial Battle Flags are dedicated to the Glory of God and our flags fly in memory and honor of our Confederate dead.
• Several weeks ago, we began the process of extensive site improvements at our I-95 Chester Flag Site.

“The Virginia Flaggers Highway Memorial Battle Flags are dedicated to the Glory of God and our flags fly in memory and honor of our Confederate dead.”

Why Drivers Noticed It Was Gone

For travelers on Interstate 95 south of Richmond, the big battle flag near Chester had become a landmark. It was the first of the Virginia Flaggers’ Highway Memorial Battle Flags, raised in 2013, and thousands of drivers passed it every day. So when the pole suddenly came down in the summer of 2016, people started asking questions. Some assumed it had been forced down. The Flaggers answered that the removal was only temporary while they made the site better.

Who the Virginia Flaggers Are

The Virginia Flaggers began in Richmond in 2011. Their members are ordinary Virginians who decided to answer the removal of Confederate flags from public places by raising them on private land instead. Each Highway Memorial flag flies on property whose owner has given permission, which means it stays up no matter what a city council decides. The group dedicates each site to the memory of the Confederate soldiers who died defending Virginia.

The Danville Connection

Many of the group’s flags stand in and around Danville. That is no accident. In April 1865, after Richmond fell, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet moved to Danville and worked from the Sutherlin Mansion for about a week. That made the house known as the Last Capitol of the Confederacy. When Danville’s City Council voted to take down the Third National flag that flew on the mansion grounds, the Flaggers answered by raising flags of their own on private land throughout the area.

A Promise to Keep Flying

The message from the Flaggers has stayed the same: every time a flag comes down on public property, they will work to put another one up on private land. Whatever your view, the Chester flag shows how many Virginians still care deeply about remembering their ancestors.

Fly your own memorial flag with a Confederate battle flag or Third National flag from Ultimate Flags.

Source: Virginia Flaggers: What happened to the Chester I-95 flag?

Thanks for reading. Please share our posts with your friends and family so they too can learn more about Southern Heritage and History.

Brought to you by: Ultimate Flags