The Truth about Confederate History?

Being a Short Digression on the History of the Confederate Flag

This article looks at the misleading information and inaccuracies that have been said. However; because there is so much information, we will discuss it here in a much smaller amount. We will first have a look at many areas of the above article about "the Rebel Flag". This means that we will have to have a look at a little history of this particular flag.

First Confederate national flag: “The Stars and Bars”.

This flag represented a nation and government known as: "The Confederate States of America (CSA)". This first began on the 4th of March 1861. It was like this for the first couple of years. This flag was very similar to the national flag of the U.S. ("the Stars and Stripes"). There were a couple of big red horizontal stripes on this flag. These were located on top and underneath a big white stripe. A blue canton could be seen on the top left. This contained a pattern of white stars. The stars were the same amount of states that are in the Confederacy. (Similar to the U.S. flag, extra stars were included to the design as more states joined the Confederacy). This was the flag that was best known for: "Stars and Bars". It was also the CSA's national flag that lasted until 1st of May 1863. It was never know as the Confederate battle flag. However, this is the name that is now often used.

The very first Confederate national flag contained seven stars. This was a representation for the first seven states that started in the U.S. These became known as the Confederate States of America. The names of these states were: Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. On the 21st of May 1861 the flag was changed. These were for the new states of Arkansas and Virginia. On the 2nd of July in 1861, two more stars were placed on the flag. These were for North Carolina and Tennessee. Yet again; two more stars were added on 28th November 1861. These stars were for Missouri and Kentucky. (The last two states did not formally become a part of the U.S. They were also never under the control of a Confederate-aligned government. However; these two states were represented in the Confederacy Congress).

Confederate battle flags

Towards the end of 1861, the Northern Virginian Army created a square batter flag. It came from a design that was originally rejected for the first confederacy flag. This was different to the flag of the United States. It contained a red background with a white-bordered dark blue saltire. Again; this included stars that were the same number of the states in the Confederacy. This flag soon became known to be "The Southern Cross". Later on; this soon became a rectangle shape. It soon became known as the Army of Tennessee battle flag. This included a lighter blue saltire. It was also recognized as the Second Confederacy Navy Jack from the year 1863 and beyond.