Confederate Battle Flag Has Divisive History-- Part 2: The Three National Flags

Continued from October 11, 2019.  Just click on the Flag's Divisive History label to see other posts.

"The banner has become more popular than the Confederacy's first official flag, the Stars and Bars, which resembled the United States' Stars and Stripes, but with three wide red and white stripes and with a blue square union with seven white stars.

"In 1863, the battle flag was officially recognized by the Confederate Congress, turning it into a political symbol, as it has been ever since."

At that time, it was incorporated into a larger white banner as a square in the upper left hand corner as the Confederacy's second national banner.  Then, a red bar was added at the opposite end of the banner so that  the flag would not be seen as a surrender flag when hanging limp.

"But, John Coski, a historian at the American Civil War Museum, who documented the banner's divisive history in his 2005 book, 'The Confederate Battle Flag:  America's Most Embattled Emblem,' warns against simplifying what it stands for."

--Old Secesh