JLJWHEN SOUTHERN DELEGATES CONVENED AT Montgomery, Alabama, in February 1861 to establish the Confederate government, they faced the challenge of devising not only a new constitution but also a new flag for their nation. William Porcher Miles, a former U.S. congressman who represented South Carolina at the convention, proposed a design quite unlike the U.S. flag, which he considered a symbol of tyranny. Other delegates, however, preferred a flag based on the Stars and Stripes. Many Confederates considered themselves revolutionary patriots like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other founders who declared independence in 1776. They proclaimed their American heritage by taking the U.S. Constitution and the Stars and Stripes as models for their own constitution and flag while making changes that signaled their distinct identity.
The First Confederate National Flag, also known as the “Stars and Bars,” was adopted on March 4, 1861—a date chosen defiantly to coincide with Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration—and had seven stars for the seven original Confederate States of America (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas). The number of stars on that banner increased as Virginia joined the Confederacy in April 1861, followed by Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The U.S. government refused to accept secession and continued to represent all the Southern states on its national flag, which acquired its thirty-fourth star when Kansas entered the Union in January 1861. The number of stars expanded again with the admission of West Virginia as the thirty-fifth state in July 1863.
The similarity between the Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Bars caused confusion and calamity during the First Battle of Bull Run (known to Confederates as First Manassas) in July 1861. As opposing troops clashed amid the dust and smoke, they found it hard to distinguish their own national flag from the enemy’s. That contributed to deadly incidents of friendly fire that were particularly costly for the Confederates. Although they prevailed at Manassas, Confederate generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph Johnston concluded that their forces needed a battle flag that was distinct from their national flag and would not be confused with the Stars and Stripes. William Miles revived his earlier design for the Confederate national flag featuring an X-shaped cross of St. Andrew, which was incorporated in the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. Introduced in November 1861, it had three stars on each arm of the cross and one in the center. The thirteen stars represented the eleven official states of the Confederacy as well as Kentucky and Missouri, where Confederates were challenging Unionists for control. The Army of Northern Virginia went on to achieve lasting fame under General Robert E. Lee, and its battle flag became an enduring symbol of Southern defiance. JLJ
OPPOSING STANDARDS Among the Civil War–era banners in Smithsonian collections are a thirty-four-star U.S. flag (FIRST IMAGE), introduced when Kansas joined the Union; an eight-star Confederate national flag (SECOND IMAGE), which was probably made to signal Virginia’s entry as the eighth Confederate state; and a thirteen-star Confederate battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (THIRD IMAGE).
