What does the Confederate flag symbolize?

Answer 1

The best-known of all Confederate flags-the battle flag-is often erroneously confused with the national flag of the Confederacy. The battle flag features the cross of St. Andrew (the apostle was martyred by being crucified on an X-shaped cross), and is commonly called the "Southern Cross." A large degree of the Southern population was of Scottish and Scotch-Irish ancestry, and thus familiar with St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The stars represented the eleven states actually in the Confederacy, plus Kentucky and Missouri. This flag is the flap popularly associated with Robert E. Lee, and is the flag under which he fought.

The Army of Northern Virginia was the first to design a flag with the cross of St. Andrew, and Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard proposed adopting a version of it as the standard battle flag of the Confederate army. The Harper's Weekly Image above shows Beauregard's Arkansas troops serving under the "Stars and Bars" flag in 1861. The Army of Northern Virginia can be seen serving under the "Southern Cross" in 1862. One of its virtues was that, unlike the Stars and Bars, the Southern Cross was next to impossible to confuse with the Stars and Stripes in battle. The Confederate battle flag eventually developed wide acceptance 0throughout the Confederacy, but it was by no means the only battle flag.

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Answer 2

Well its 2009 now but the Flag represents to me is a group of people who had enough guts to believe in themselves and speak there mind and fight and die for something they believed in so much which was there home, there land, and family. Because more then half the people who fought for the Southern side did NOT even have slaves and that is not even what the war was about. It was about The South only income was selling cotton to Britain but once Lincoln put a high tax on cotton they were not getting hardly any money at all so the South seceded to start there own government.

Answer 3

The Confederate Battle Flag that most people are familiar with was not a nationally recognized national flag. It was primarily a flag used by the Army of Northern Virginia, as well as some Tennessee and Mississippi regiments. The popular battle flag was 3' by 3', and was barrowed from the Scotish flag.

At the point of the War in the 1860's, many in the South had ancestry with the Scots-Irish. The Scots are often connected with Saint Andrew, the first of Jesus' followers to be crucified for his faith. Legend has it that he requested not to be crucified on the common "t" shaped cross, as he was not worthy to lose his life in the same way as Christ had given his. He was crucified on an "x" shaped cross. This symbol, still used in the Scotish flag, is known as the "Saint Andrews Cross".

While there were some in the South who wished to keep the ugly institution of slavery going, most people by 1860 did not support slavery. They did, however, wish to maintain a small federal government, and when they felt the original state sovereignty and limited federal power of the U.S. was threatened, they fought in defense of their states. The women of Mississippi designed the confederate battle flag after the Saint Andrew's cross, as a way to encourage the men in battle to remember where there strength was given to them from.

This flag has been misused and abused by hate groups such as the KKK and aryan nations. But contrary to what some believe, these hate groups are NOT the majority of southerners, and when we fly this flag (many African Americans do as well here) we fly it to honor our regional heritage and our culture. The American flag has been misused as well as the Christian cross and many other symbols, and there are groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the VFW who fight to protect the proper use of such flags.

It is incorrect to assume that ANYONE flying ANY of these flags (American or Confederate) are racists, and anyone who flies them for that reason do a great disservice to their own heritage. It is also incorrect to compare the Confederate battle flag to the Nazi flag. While the Nazi's fought for absolute government, the Confederates fought for precisely the opposite reason and with different motives- to limit the growth of big government.

Answer 4

well here's the issue. You likely don't know what the Confederate flag actually is. What you are thinking of is the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, so it would stand for that. If you want to know why you are wrong type into Google images "First CSA" then "Second CSA" and lastly "Third CSA" those flags were the flags of the confederacy

Answer 5

There were several flags considered to represent the confederacy, but the official and most common flag (often referred to as the Rebel Flag or Southern Cross) represented and therefore symbolized the CSA (Confederate States of America). It has also come to symbolize southern heritage and pride.

Answer 6

Answer 7

Which one? There are several.