Civil War Flags - The Confederacy

Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). Led by Jefferson Davis, they fought against the United States (the Union), which was supported by all the free states and the five border slave states. Union states were loosely referred to as "the North". There were several different flags used for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War which lasted from 1861-1865.

Did you know that the state flags of Mississippi and Georgia are both based on the Confederate flag design? The Mississippi state flag features a mix of the historical Confederate flags utilizing the stripes and design of 1st National Confederate flag and the signature Southern Cross design of the 2nd National Confederate flag, also seen in the most popular Confederate rebel flag. The Georgia flag also resembles the design of the 1st National Confederate flag with it's blue union in the upper left corner and the 3 horizontal stripes.

The First National Confederate Flag (Stars & Bars):
The First National Confederate flag, commonly called the “Stars and Bars” flag was flown by the Confederate states from March 1861 through May 1863, originally adopted on March 4th of 1861. The First National Confederate flag was favored over the popular Confederate battle flag because of it’s similarity to the American flag, even though the flag design was known to cause confusion on the battlefield because of its similar traits of the American flag of the U.S. Army. The 1st National Confederate flag began with 7 stars and by the end of it’s run in May of 1863 it had adopted 13 stars reflecting the Confederacy’s claim to have admitted both Missouri and Kentucky into their union.


The Second National Confederate Flag (Stainless Banner):
The Second National Confederate Flag is frequently known as the “Stainless Banner” because of its pure white field, which eventually caused criticism. The white field was looked upon as a sign of truce and Military officers made complaints that when there was no wind and flag hung down, the Southern Cross would get hidden giving the illusion of an all white flag signifying truce. The Stainless Banner flag design ended up staying though and remaining to be a historical symbol for the Confederacy during the Civil War. This 2nd National Confederate flag was used from May of 1863 and stayed as the Confederacy flag until March of 1865.



The Third National Confederate Flag (The Blood Stained Banner):
The Third National Confederate flag, also known as “The Blood Stained Banner” was brought into place on March 4th, 1865 right before the fall of the Confederacy. The red stripe on the fly end of the flag was first proposed by Major Arthur Rogers to try and eliminate the appearance of truce from the 2nd National flag style of all white. The 3rd National Confederate flag design was explained as having “as little as possible of the Yankee blue” and symbolized the people of the South.



The Confederate Flag (Rebel Flag):
The Confederate Battle Flag, also known as the Rebel flag, is widely recognized today as being a symbol of the South. The original battle flag was usually square and the stars within the cross represented the number of states in the Confederacy. During the First Battle of Manassas, the Stars and Bars and Stars and Stripes flags caused confusion because of similarity on the battlefield and it was requested a flag be made completely different from any Federal or Military flag. The rebel flag was actually flown during WWII in many Military units bearing Southern nicknames, however during the war the flag was often ordered to be taken down and replaced by the American Flag. The rebel Confederate flag still stirs up controversy in many occasions, and even in 2000, the South Carolina State Senate passed a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the State House dome where it had flown since 1962.

While not one of the official flags of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue flag was popularly used prior to and during the Civil War by many of the Southern states. It is considered the unofficial flag of the South from 1860 to 1861 and was used as the Flag of the Republic of West Texas in 1810, the Flag of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1839 and the Flag of the Republic of Mississippi in 1861. The also popular General Lee's Headquarters flag was used by General Lee and it's been said that his wife, Mary Custis Lee, made the flag with the stars in the upper corner resembling the Covenants Biblical Ark.