Confederate Artillery Battle Flag

– Square – Nylon Cut and Sewn 38×38 inch

After the Battle of First Manassas General Beauregard was determined to handle the confusions about flags used by North and South on the battlefield. The Confederate First National could be confused with the Stars and Stripes, and vice versa.  A few months later the “Southern Cross” in square form was finalized as the new battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. The Richmond depot issued the large versions to Infantry regiments, in dimensions ranging from 48 inches to 52 inches (square). Artillery units were issued flags in square 36 to 38 inches range, while cavalry units typically used sizes in the area of 30 to 32 inches square. After the war Confederate veteran Harrison McKim wrote these words: “We must forevermore consecrate in our hearts our old battle flag of the Southern Cross –not now as a political symbol, but as the consecrated emblem of an heroic epoch. The people that forgets its heroic dead is already dying at the heart and we believe we shall be truer and better citizens of the United States if we are true to our past.”