Last week, I did this same exercise in a Twitter thread, so apologies to those of you for whom this is redundant. In making that impromptu thread, I struggled to find a comprehensive account of which flags in former Confederate states do and don’t honor the Confederacy. This can be that source. At least, until Mississippi changes theirs, which appears to possibly be imminent—thank goodness. For a timestamp, in case we change our website formatting between publication and your reading of this, this is being published on June 26th, 2020 (update, 5/25/21: Mississippi did change theirs, and now has a great state flag, demonstrating how easy and good it is for states to abandon this particular symbolic tie to the time they tried to destroy the country for the sake of continuing to enslave human beings).
In doing this, it’s necessary to identify which states were and weren’t part of the Confederacy in the first place. Both Kentucky and Missouri had shadow governments admitted to the Confederacy, though neither officially seceded. The result is that the Confederate battle flag has 13 stars (two of which represent Kentucky and Missouri), as the Confederacy claimed to have 13 states. The more traditional treatment is that the Confederacy had eleven states. Either way, we’ll include Kentucky and Missouri in the examination, for the sake of thoroughness.
We’ll go through these flags in decreasing order of the plausibility of an accusation that they honor the Confederacy. In some cases, it’s not really an accusation, given the state has outright stated that honoring the Confederacy is the purpose of a particular element of the flag, or given that it’s simply so clear that “accusing” is really just stating the obvious. Admittedly, this measure of plausibility is by my own imperfect judgment. Your mileage may vary.
Before we begin, though, two flags I’ll be referencing. The first is the national flag of the Confederacy, flown in this form from 1861 to 1863:
The second is one with which you’re likely familiar: The Confederate battle flag.
Now, state flags:
Kentucky
We start with Kentucky, the flag of which was adopted in 1918:
The seal in the center was adopted in 1792. It’s possible I’m missing something, but I see no reason to suspect any Confederate motive in the current flag.
Texas
The Lone Star Flag, as you may have heard, was first flown in 1838, when Texas declared its independence from…Mexico:
It continued to serve as the state’s flag once it had agreed to annexation by the United States, which happened in 1845. It predates secession and the Civil War, and while it does hearken back to an era in which slavery was the law of the land—which understandably offends some—it does not recognize the Confederacy itself, a nation founded for the express purpose of continuing the enslavement of Black Americans (if you disagree with this accounting of the Confederacy’s reason for secession, I’d encourage you to read the secession documents—here’s a link to five of them).
Louisiana
Louisiana’s flag wasn’t adopted until 1912, though its use in an unofficial manner predates secession and the Civil War, and it was flown concurrently with Louisiana’s official state flag during the Civil War:
Like Texas’s, Louisiana’s flag did arise in a place where slavery was prevalent. Personally, I don’t see any pro-slavery imagery or Confederate honorifics.
Missouri
Missouri had an organized coalition of Confederate-allied troops called the Missouri State Guard, which flew the following flag:
In 1913, the state adopted their current official flag:
The seal in the center is, of course, the same, but the seal was adopted in 1822, 39 years prior to the war. I’ve seen some pro-Confederacy groups try to claim the Missouri flag as one of theirs online, but it seems a stretch to me.
Virginia
Virginia did not have a state flag until 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War. What they adopted remains in use today:
The seal, which is the only image on the flag, dates back to 1776. In other words, Virginia’s flag is a Civil War-era flag with Revolutionary War-era imagery. Does it honor the Confederacy? Some may argue that it does, since it was first flown to fight against the United States. Practically, though, had Virginia made a state flag at any point in their history, it’s doubtful it would’ve looked anything but identical to this one, which makes a case that the flag isn’t actively Confederate. Again, some may be offended by the Virginia state flag, and this blog post is not intended to delegitimize that offense. The post simply an evaluation of how directly these flags honor or don’t honor the Confederacy. We are not qualified to judge the legitimacy of feelings of offense.
South Carolina
South Carolina’s situation is nearly identical to Virginia’s. In 1861, the state adopted their current flag:
Like Virginia’s, South Carolina’s flag owes its origins to imagery that predates the Civil War. The crescent moon comes from the Moultrie Flag, first flown in 1775 by American troops during the Revolution. The palmetto was added when the 1861 flag was adopted (other, smaller changes were made as well), but it too references Colonel Moultrie.
Again, this flag has Confederate origins, but as with Virginia’s, it appears likely that South Carolina would’ve adopted this flag at any point they were compelled to adopt one. It doesn’t contain any imagery associated with the Confederacy as an organized entity. It may offend some, and that’s understandable, but it doesn’t appear to honor the Confederacy, per se.
North Carolina
North Carolina’s situation is messy. In 1861, the following flag was adopted by the state:
In 1885, the current state flag was adopted:
Obviously, there are a lot of similarities. The design appears to have simply been juggled, with the date of the signing of the Halifax Resolves placed in the spot formerly occupied by that of the date of secession (the 1775 date is that of the supposed signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a likely-fabricated but nonetheless honored-in-North-Carolina declaration of independence from Britain signed by Mecklenburg County, where Charlotte is located; the Halifax Resolves, the legitimacy of which is not disputed, was the first official document by an American Colony calling for independence from Britain).
Once again, the flag clearly dates back to the Confederacy, and its status as a dog whistle is up for debate, with the case probably stronger than it is for those preceding North Carolina on this list. I don’t really know how to feel about this flag. I lean towards finding it, in today’s context, acceptable, but neither its continued use nor its eventual abolition would be surprising or that out of line. I’m not the one to pass that judgment.
Tennessee
This is where it gets rough.
You see, for eight years, Tennessee had a perfectly fine flag. Red, white, and blue, with the state nickname in the center, its status as the 16th state honored in one corner, and slanted bars representing West Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and East Tennessee—the three Grand Divisions of the state.
In 1905, though, a new flag was adopted. The current one:
For reference, let’s look again at the Confederate battle flag:
The three stars in Tennessee’s flag undeniably reference the three Grand Divisions. That’s all well and good. The stars could be said to be as tied to the American Flag as they are to the Confederate battle flag. Again, well and good. But taken as a whole: a crimson background, white stars against blue, and a blue bar adjacent to a smaller white bar; and taken in the context of 1905, a year within the nadir of Black Civil Rights in America between Reconstruction and today; and taken as a replacement of a perfectly good flag, it’s suspicious (on a very related note, the early 1900’s were also when the majority of statues honoring Confederate warmakers were erected). It looks like the state took the Confederate battle flag, stuck it in a blender, modified it to symbolize the Grand Divisions, and called it good.
Without much primary source material currently easily available surrounding the thoughts of those most active in the flag’s implementation, this is a flag upon which reasonable people can disagree regarding motive. Personally, I call dog whistle.
Arkansas
As with Tennessee’s, you may recognize a certain motif in Arkansas’s flag:
There were originally just three blue stars: One for France, which once governed Arkansas; one for Spain, which once governed Arkansas; and one for the United State, which currently governs Arkansas. In 1924, though, per Arkansas’s Secretary of State…
Then there was trouble…there was no indication on the flag that Arkansas had been a member of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865. To correct that, the legislature in 1923 added a fourth blue star…
Florida
Florida’s flag initially only had the seal, placed upon a white background. In the late 1890’s, though (as with Tennessee, note the timing), Governor, former Confederate Captain, and noted segregationist Francis Fleming requested the addition of a St. Andrew’s Cross, a cross which you may recognize from its prominent display on the Confederate battle flag.
To Fleming, the story goes, the flag looked too much like a surrender flag without that cross.
Arguments have been made that the St. Andrew’s Cross isn’t, on its own, a Confederate symbol, because it was flown in Florida and elsewhere prior to 1861. Similar arguments have been made that the Swastika isn’t, on its own, a Nazi symbol, because it predated the Nazi Party’s adoption of it in 1920.
Alabama
You’ll recognize Alabama’s flag as Florida’s with the seal pulled off:
According to an account from 1915, available via the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the flag was intended to “preserve in permanent form some of the more distinctive features of the Confederate battle flag, particularly the St. Andrew’s Cross.”
Alabama’s current flag was adopted in 1895. Florida’s was adopted in 1900.
Georgia
If you thought Alabama’s flag thought highly of the Confederacy, wait ‘til you hear about Georgia.
Georgia’s gone through a lot of flags in its years. Since 1879, they’ve all worked to honor the Confederacy. In 1956, the one we’d see as the most egregious was adopted, and—get this—one of the state senators who introduced the bill to adopt the flag was named Jefferson Lee Davis. Here’s that flag, which remained in flight until 2003:
Yep.
In 2001, the state caved and agreed to change the flag. Here’s the current version:
Recognize it? In case you don’t, let’s remove the coat of arms:
There it is. The original national flag of the Confederacy.
Mississippi
Finally, Mississippi’s, which will hopefully be gone soon (update, 5/25/21: It’s gone, and the new one’s great!). Adopted in 1894.
Image credits for all flags in this post can be found on this page.
