I have been asked about and have seen several discussions about why some people in the "South" insist on defiantly displaying "the Confederate Flag".

  In short, the South (whatever that is) doesn't display it !!  What you have been seeing is the "Battle Flag", a banner seen in the heat of battle upon which troops might rally, which banner was NEVER the flag of the Confederate Nation, and did not represent the citizens of the Southern States.  

  Only in the last half of the 20th Century have rednecks and rabble rousers thrust that battle symbol - the St. Andrews Cross standing alone - in the face of Afro-Americans and others sensitive to the evils that misunderstanding of the Southern cause brought about.

  Unless I am mistaken, I believe that there are no photos of Lee, Davis, or any other high ranking Southerners with the Battle Flag.  As witness thereto, at my website I have posted a photo of a 1911 Little Rock, AR parade of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV). Look at it closely; there are NO battle flags displayed by anyone at that event, yet no one could credit their earlier loyalty to the South. You will there find what the South considered its flag alongside the Stars and Stripes of the U.S., the battle flag being conspicuous in its absence.

      Paul Drake JD
   Genealogist & Author
  <www.DrakesBooks.com>
       931-484-9129

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