Confederate Flag, 3' x 5'
4200-035-002
Product Details
Why do we sell Confederate Flags?
We sell Confederate Flags because they are part of American history and it cannot be denied or ignored when it comes to re-enactments, movie productions, private collectors, museums, or anyone else interested in our country's history. We do not in any way condone or support any hate or radical groups whatsoever and never have. We do make every effort to supply quality Native American items and crafts, muzzleloading supplies, books, videos, and CD's related to our American heritage and history.
This Confederate Flag is popular with Civil War (Living History) Reenactors. What are the Union reenactors going to do without their Confederate counterparts?
History of the Confederate Flag continued below.
Confederate Flag History
With the formation of the Confederate States of America in early 1861, one of the first orders of business was to create a flag for the new nation. The Committee on the Flag and Seal was formed for this purpose. At the time, there was still feelings of allegiance to the original US flag, and popular opinion was lining up in support of a flag that was similar to the familiar United States flag.
The proposed flag resembled the United States flag, but replaced the "stripes" with 3 "bars". The flag had 7 stars, one for each state that was part of the confederacy at the time. This flag was dubbed the "Stars and Bars". The United States flag had been known as the "Stars and Stripes". This flag had replaced the stripes with bars, so it was logical to call it the "Stars and Bars". Though many people today often refer to the Confederate battle flag as the "Stars and Bars". Strictly speaking, this is not a correct description of the Confederate battle flag.
Several different flags were proposed for those who preferred a very different flag from the United States flag, one of which resembled what would later become the Confederate battle flag.
In March of 1861, those who supported a flag similar to that of the United States won the day, and the "Stars and Bars" became the official National flag of the Confederacy.
Confederate Flag Grows to 13 Stars
Image Credit: Robert W. Mann, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Subsequently, more stars were added to the flag as more states joined the Confederacy, eventually giving the Stars and Bars had a total of 13 stars. The thirteen Confederate states represented were: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky. Although Missouri and Kentucky never officially seceded, they were slave states, and did have some confederate state governments, although they were in exile for the most part.
Confusion in Battle Leads to New Confederate Flag Design
At the Battle of Bull Run, there were a number of Confederate regiments that used the Confederate national flag as their battle flag. While having a National flag that looks similar to the old United States flag might have been comforting to the people of the newly formed Confederacy, it turned out to be a bad idea in battle. In battle, the purpose of a flag is to help identify who is who.
The confusion caused by the similarity in the flags was of great concern to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. He suggested that the Confederate national flag be changed to something completely different, to avoid confusion in battle in the future. This idea was rejected by the Confederate government. Beauregard then suggested that there should be two flags. One, the National flag, and the second one being a battle flag, with the battle flag being completely different from the United States flag.
Beauregard was successful in having a separate battle flag created. The one chosen was actually similar to one of the flags that had earlier been proposed to be the National flag. The battle flag would be a blue X on a red field. As a battle flag, the flag would be square. The flag had 13 stars, for the thirteen states in the Confederacy. This flag was first used in battle in December 1861. Being a new flag, different from the United States flag, it gained widespread acceptance and allegiance among the Confederate soldiers, and population in general. The flag is referred to as the Confederate battle flag, and as the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.
It should be noted, however, that there were many different confederate battle flags used at different times, and by different regiments in the war.
The National flag of the confederacy is almost forgotten today, and the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia has become the symbol most associated with the confederacy, and it remains a controversial, and divisive symbol to this day.