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Yesterday driving on Falls of Neuse a truck drove past with 2 flags - the usual U.S. flag and my 10 year old said "hey Why's he got a confederate flag??" I thought back to this thread. :-). Since we've only lived here for 8 months from UK I was surprised he knew what a confederate flag looks like (I dont) but he also wanted to know if it meant "the guy wants to have a divided USA with north and South again) I didn't know the answer. What does it mean to fly the confederate flag these days??
It can mean a lot of things...there is no blanket reason. You'd have to ask the person flying the flag. He could be a member of the KKK or some other hate group, he could be the descendant of a confederate soldier honoring of his forefather, he could just think it looks cool, he could think it makes him a "rebel", he could just want to get attention...who knows?
angelkitten, I'll take a stab at that. I may regret it, but here goes. I imagine it means different things to different people to fly a confederate flag or at least the most recognizable stars-n-bars, but at minimum I would guess that the person flying the confederate flag is proud of their Southern heritage and not concerned with who they may offend by flying it.
It's basically like flying a Union Jack flag would be here — just means you like the UK, right? Not that you think the US should go back to being a colony of Great Britain. If you fly the Union Jack perhaps you have some ties to it (as you do) or maybe you're just an anglophile American and really love all things UK.
So when a person flies the Stars and Bars it's similar to flying any other flag from a region you like, with the Stars and Bars representing the South as a region, BUT (and this is a big but) it's now seen by many as very, very racist, so whoever is flying it doesn't care if anybody else sees it as racist or who they offend.
It still flies over the statehouse in SOUTH Carolina, though.
angelkitten, I'll take a stab at that. I may regret it, but here goes. I imagine it means different things to different people to fly a confederate flag or at least the most recognizable stars-n-bars, but at minimum I would guess that the person flying the confederate flag is proud of their Southern heritage and not concerned with who they may offend by flying it.
Again, as I posted upthread, the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, or the "Confederate Flag" is NOT the stars and bars. The stars and bars is the nickname of the fFirst National Flag of the CSA, which looks a lot like the NC state flag.
Quote:
Originally Posted by poppydog
So when a person flies the Stars and Bars it's similar to flying any other flag from a region you like, with the Stars and Bars representing the South as a region, BUT (and this is a big but) it's now seen by many as very, very racist, so whoever is flying it doesn't care if anybody else sees it as racist or who they offend.
Yes, unfortunately the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia has been co-opted by a variety of hate groups. Please don't mistake everyone flying the flag as a member of a hate group.
Again, as I posted upthread, the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, or the "Confederate Flag" is NOT the stars and bars. The stars and bars is the nickname of the fFirst National Flag of the CSA, which looks a lot like the NC state flag.
ACTUALLY, if you're going to get technical about it, the most common rectangular confederate flag you see flying is the Tennessee battle flag not the Virginia flag which is square, not rectangular.
ACTUALLY, if you're going to get technical about it, the most common rectangular confederate flag you see flying is the Tennessee battle flag not the Virginia flag which is square, not rectangular.
You didn't hurt my feelings, but your information was wrong. If you're gonna correct people on using the common nickname then you oughta get the facts straight.
And to answer JayJay's question, no I don't see it often in Chapel Hill, but I used to see it more decades ago. I do still see it out in the country and occasionally pass trucks decked out in confederate finery.
You didn't hurt my feelings, but your information was wrong. If you're gonna correct people on using the common nickname then you oughta get the facts straight.
For someone who didn't know what the stars and bars was this morning, you've become quite the expert!
In general, I feel that it represents Southern solidarity and adherence to tradition to most of the people who fly it prominently.
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