Liberty Flags of our Fathers--The Confederate Battle Flag

 by Al Benson Jr.

Thanks to the professional South haters, both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the Marxist-oriented media and various Marxist groups the Confederate Battle Flag has gotten an undeserved bad rap. Any place the Battle Flag has been flown in the South in our day Southern scalawags have rushed in to attempt to remove it so they can display their utter obeisance to those that they think will further their political aspirations.

Admittedly, there have been some groups that have used the flag in an abusive manner, but such groups do not in any way reflect the true and noble heritage of the Battle Flag. Shallow thinkers contend that the Battle Flag represents slavery. Too often they refuse to learn the real history because to be confused with the facts might mean they had to retreat from their unjust criticisms and they are not about to do that. Life would have no meaning for them if they did.

The Battle Flag was only, ever, a soldier's flag, used by Confederate soldiers on the field of battle so as to differentiate their flags from the Yankee flags. It did not represent slavery because your average Confederate soldier did not fight to preserve or defend slavery. Their letters to their folks back home showed that. They fought to defend their God-given liberties and because they were invaded. A Confederate soldier was once asked why he fought the Yankees and his reply was "because you're here."

There has been much ado made over the origins of the Battle Flag. Many have said it had a religious origin while others have rushed in to stridently deny that. In the Southern Heritage Movement since I have been involved in it there have been two distinct groups--those who insist the the Movement and Confederate flags have a decided Christian origin and the opposing group that wants to leave any religious connection of the Confederacy out totally. I once had a shallow-thinking young man tell me "I  am fighting for a flag, not a religion." He seemed to take some pride in that statement. He did not seem to grasp the fact that the flag he was "fighting for" had a religious significance and, had it not had that significance it would not have existed.

You may have guessed by now that I do not agree with those deniers that claim there was no religious significance to our flags or that they were totally secular. If the design of the Battle Flag was totally secular as some claim then why did it contain the St. Andrews Cross, which was and is a Christian symbol, the same as the one on the Scottish national flag? The St. Andrews Cross reflects the Celtic heritage of many in the South and many of those were and are today, Christian.

Pastor John Weaver wrote a book on why the Confederate Battle Flag was Christian in origin. He has been criticized for that effort by many who contend a totally secular view of the flag is mandated. I have seen some of Pastor Weaver's writing on this subject. I don't know if he got all the historical facts totally right or not. But by the same token, I don't think he got them all totally wrong either.

In my opinion I think the Confederate Battle Flag did, indeed, have a spiritual significance. Whether intended or not, it contained a powerful Christian symbol and I think this is one reason the political and theological leftists in our day hate it so much. They realize what many secular Southerners do not--that this flag is, indeed, a Christian symbol and seeing that I have two ancestors that were Scots Highlanders I recognize that also.

For all its imperfections the Old South was a biblically-based society and culture and I am convinced that is one reason why its history and heritage are under such virulent attack in our day. The politicians and other gutless wonders in Mississippi have just removed the Confederate symbol from their state flag. They were afraid to give the good citizens of their state a chance to have a referendum on whether they wanted this done or not. They just did it on their own. The citizens of Mississippi should remember that when these people run for office again.

The Confederate Battle Flag does not represent what its detractors claim it does. It represents the aspirations of those soldiers that fought for their liberties under its banner. As such it should always have a place of respect in our hearts and minds no matter what the world tries to tell us about it.