Heave ho thomas us11/30/2022 ![]() Rather, it was sold as a revisit of the pre-1956 flag, which itself had been an homage to the Stars & Bars, designed by a former Confederate colonel. Of course, this is not how the design was promoted at the time. Seeing as how their contender could hardly help but prevail no matter what it was, the honorable members of the Georgia legislature opted to dredge up the banner of “the first in the history of the world,” to cite the CSA’s Georgian vice president Alexander Stevens, founded “upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man that slavery - subordination to the superior race - is his natural and normal condition.” ![]() Oh, and if the Barnes flag did happen to win, it would be forced into a runoff with the 1956 flag, a requirement not visited upon the new design. ![]() What actually wound up happening was folks were given a choice between what was literally the current ugliest flag in North America and a design put forth by the state General Assembly. The idea Perdue campaigned on was that Georgians would be allowed to choose a new emblem. But the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta focused more attention on the state symbol than it could withstand, and by 2001 it had been scrapped as fears of economic boycotts loomed.įor two years, the state flew a banner so ugly I refrain from posting it here and will only quote the North American Vexillogical Association’s verdict that it “violates all the principles of good flag design.” (That’s right, all of them.) In 2002 Governor Sonny Perdue - yup, “Sonny” - was swept into office on the flag issue, and in the first year of his administration the current flag replaced the so-called “Barnes rag.” ![]() Board of Education US Supreme Court decision and subsequent public turmoil over ending segregation of black and white students in public schools. That flag, combining elements of the Stars & Bars and the Rebel Flag, was adopted pursuant to a bill introduced by state senators Jefferson Lee Davis (yes, his real name - I swear, you can’t make this stuff up with a monkey wrench) and Willis Harden in the wake of the 1954 Brown v. Well, for most of my life, this was Georgia’s flag: Flag of the state of Georgia 1956–2001 ( public domain) So how did that flag come to fly over the state of Georgia, and why do so few people notice it’s a Confederate flag? Hard to say that’s not a Confederate emblem right there. This is the actual Stars & Bars, first official flag of the Confederate States of America, specifically the 13-star version which flew from 1861 to 1863: Confederate Stars & Bars ( public domain)Īnd this is the current flag of the State of Georgia, which is the Stars & Bars with the state coat of arms slapped on it: Flag of the state of Georgia ( public domain) It is commonly referred to as the Rebel Flag, and often mistakenly called the Stars & Bars. That is the second Navy Jack of the CSA, a rectangular version of a popular Confederate battle flag designed after the First Battle of Bull Run (aka First Battle of Manassas) when similarities between the Union and Confederate banners caused confusion among the fighting men. This ain’t it: Second Confederate Navy Jack, aka the Rebel Flag (public domain) Now first I should correct a common misperception about the Stars & Bars. The Confederate “Stars & Bars” still flies over one US state to this day. That flag has since been retired, but the reporter was wrong. Last summer I heard a radio journalist say Mississippi was the last US state with a Confederate emblem on its flag. ![]() It’s not just ON the flag, it IS the flag … ![]()
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