CWRT Website - Civil War Flags

FLAGS OF THE CIVIL WAR

To the casual follower of The Civil War, the national and military colors – flags – of that war can be a somewhat confusing and/or misunderstood topic. Throughout the history of military conflict, banners have always been utilized to identify who is who and serve as rallying points – or targets – for soldiers. The Civil War was no different, but two armies from the same country, not surprisingly, created banners of the same colors, and, sometimes, in the heat of battle, a modicum of confusion.

National flags were the common choice to be carried by military units on both sides, often with military or battle honors emblazoned. Units of lesser than army size very often carried a flag of a design other than the national flag and, in many cases, peculiar or unique to the particular unit. Regimental flags and guidons were, quite often, a commander's best indicator of the progress of a battle, always a unit's rallying point, and soldiers often vied for the honor of carrying the unique banner of their beloved regiment into battle – and, oftentimes, death.

UNION COLORS

The design of the national flag of the United States had been constant from its founding, the only difference through the years being the number of stars it bore, representing the number of states in The Union. Although the Confederate States of America considered itself a separate nation from the United States, the United States never reciprocated that belief, either in its politics or its flag. Consequently, the number of stars in the U.S. flag did not get reduced by the number of states that formally seceded, but, in actuality, grew from the beginning of 1861 through 1865, as Kansas and West Virginia were admitted to The Union.

CONFEDERATE COLORS

The colors representing the Confederate States of America varied throughout its four-year history. When the state of Mississippi seceded from the Union in January 1861, a flag bearing a single white star on a blue field was flown from the capitol dome. The first recorded use of this flag was in 1810, when it was used to represent the Republic of West Florida, a republic of English-speaking inhabitants in parts of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River who rebelled against the reign of Spanish government and overthrew Spain's district governor. Harry Macarthy later helped popularize the flag as a symbol of independence, writing the popular song "The Bonnie Blue Flag" early in 1861. Some seceding Southern states incorporated the motif of a white star on a blue field into new state flags. The Bonnie Blue flag was used as an unofficial Confederate flag during the early months of 1861. It was flying above the Confederate batteries that first opened fire on Fort Sumter, beginning the Civil War

The Confederacy subsequently had three official national flags during its history, beginning later in 1861 with a design reminiscent of the original U.S. flag but, in 1863, moving to a significantly different format and, in early 1865, again changing by modifying the second design. The 1863 change resulted from the battlefield problem of the furled Confederate national flag resembling the furled U.S. flag from a distance – with the obvious potentially disastrous consequences. The first Confederate national flag was commonly referred to by Southerners as “The Stars and Bars”, due to the circle of stars (varying from seven to thirteen during its lifetime, depending on the official number of seceded states) and the field of three broad red and white stripes. The second national was commonly referred to as the “Stainless Banner” due to its all-white field. But the Stainless Banner was, as time passed, found to have its own shortcoming: when furled, it looked a great deal like a flag of surrender from a distance – not a desirable characteristic for the fighting man. So, in early 1865, a broad red stipe was added to the “stainless” field to make it more identifiable. It’s life beginning so close to the end of the war, the Confederacy's third national flag never found a unique moniker among Southerners.

As time has passed and turned into history, those three flags have significantly faded from memory in favor of “The Rebel Flag”, made up of a red field containing a blue St. Andrew’s cross filled with thirteen stars, representing the final thirteen Confederate states. Most folks today look upon this flag as the real symbol of The Confederacy, but, in fact, it was never the national flag of The Confederacy, used only as a Battle Flag in various configurations. It’s genesis was the confusion among Confederate units encountered at the First Battle of Manassas due to the similarity between the "Stars and Bars" and the "Stars and Stripes". It first appeared in late 1861 in three different square sizes utilized by Army units (for Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry). The rectangular Naval Jack (from the second national flag design) soon came into common usage with the Army of Tennessee in the campaigns outside Virginia and Maryland. As the war progressed, The Battle Flag, indeed, became the most popular banner among Southern soldiers and the most recognized by Union soldiers - that “bloody red banner”.

THE FLAGS TODAY

The national flags and battle flags and regimental colors of the Civil War were the emblems of the times and the strife of that great war. Today, they are those very same emblems. Nothing more. They honor the men and women who fought and died under, and for, them for the freedoms we have in this great country today. Let those who think them otherwise and those who would use them otherwise be ashamed. Let those who would have us forget them and destroy them be recognized as the ignorant and foolhardy souls they, so obviously, are.