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The flag of the Confederacy, referred to by some, as the "Stars and Bars", began originally as a battle field flag. One of the greatest fallacies of the American Civil War is that the "Stars and Bars" was always the flag of the Confederacy. This is not the case. In fact, during the First Battle of Bull Run in June 1961, many Confederate units marched into battle with flags from different states, different counties, and different regiments. In fact, there were so many colors on the battlefield that afternoon, many were confused on both sides as to just who the enemy was. It was only a few months after that initial engagement, that the Confederate Flag of today was incorporated into armed forces of the South.

So, that is a brief history as to how the Confederate Flag originated. Now, is that flag a part of Southern heritage, or a symbol of hate? From a very general historical standpoint, the flag was nothing more than a battle field symbol. At the time it was introduced, the Klu Klux Klan did not exist yet. So, it could not have represented them and their views. It did not represet the support of lynching, either. It simply represented the Confederate Armed Forces.

Now, all symbols, no matter how general in scope, have connotations attached to them. It would be foolish to think otherwise, and naive to suggest differently. After the American Civil War ended, the Confederate flag, unfortunately, took on a whole new and twisted meaning. For example, when the Klu Klux Klan was formed in Tennessee in 1866 by former Confederate Cavalry General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, they quickly chose that flag as their symbol. And it has remained so ever since. That was unfortunate. Because there was a huge moral difference between Southern soldiers on the field of battle, courageously fighting for their individual freedoms vs. what they saw as the over reaching power of the Federal Government, and a group of drunken, backward, deranged pyschopaths who had the honor and decency of Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees.

So, in the final analysis, the Confederate flag actually represents both. Initially, it represented the brave men, of the Southern Armed Forces, and all of their respective units together. The flag also represented the Confederacy as, not only a nation, but also an ideal. That ideal being individual rights and freedoms, and the subsequent freedoms of the states in which they lived as well. The flag flew proudly and defiantly against an expansive form Federalism. It served to remind us that individual rights were not to be taken for granted, nor were they to be taken away, either. There is nothing wrong with that belief in any way, shape or form. In fact, there is everything right about it. Individual freedoms are one of the many ways we Americans have always defined ourselves, and hopefully will always be able to do so as well.

Tragically, these values, and the heritage they represented at the time, symbolized by the Confederate flag itself, were shamefully hijacked by a group of individuals who twisted their original meaning to represent hate and immorality instead. As a result of these unscrupulous scoundrels and their deplorable actions, people nowadays see the Confederate Flag as a symbol of hate, rather than the heritage that it was originally designed to represent.

Learn more about this author, TIMOTHY J. THOMPSON.
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