A collection of flags from the South during the U.S. Civil War. Three successive designs served as the official national flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Confederate States” or the “Confederacy”) during its existence from 1861 to 1865. The flags were known as the “Stars and Bars”, used from 1861 to 1863, the “Stainless Banner”, used from 1863 to 1865, and the “Blood-Stained Banner”, used in 1865 shortly before the Confederacy’s dissolution. A rejected national flag design was also utilized as a battle flag by the Confederate army and featured in the “Stainless Banner” and “Blood-Stained Banner” designs. Although this design was never a national flag, it is commonly recognized as a symbol of the Confederacy.

In addition to the national flags of the Confederacy, a wide variety of flags and banners were flown by Southerners during the Civil War. Most famously, the “Bonnie Blue Flag” was used as an unofficial flag during the early months of 1861. It was flying above the Confederate batteries that first opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, in South Carolina beginning the Civil War. The “Van Dorn battle flag” was also carried by Confederate troops fighting in the Trans-Mississippi and Western theaters of war. In addition, many military units had their own regimental flags they would carry into battle.

1917/USA