FG-054 — Confederate “Southern Cross” flag (printed cotton)

FG-054 — Confederate “Southern Cross” flag, printed cotton, 85 × 140 cm — full view

Flag ID: FG-054

Flag facts

• Maker (stamp): None observed
• Dimensions: 85 × 140 cm
• Materials: Cotton
• Construction: Single-panel printed; machine-stitched hems; canvas header with two metal grommets
• Layout: Rectangular “Southern Cross”: blue saltire with 13 white stars on red
• Markings (hoist): None; grommets unmarked
• Legal stamp expansion (if relevant): Not applicable
• Acceptance: Not applicable
• Period: Likely mid-20th century (1950s–1960s)
• Condition: Moderate wear (fray at upper hoist, creasing, light soiling)

History — origin, original sizes, age

The American Civil War (1861–1865) pitted the industrialized Northern states (the Union) against the agrarian South (the Confederacy). The North fought to preserve the United States and, increasingly, to abolish slavery. The South seceded to defend states’ rights and maintain the slave-based economy that underpinned its society.

Union flag, 34 stars (1861–63)
Smithsonian Institution — CC0

⚔️

Confederate 7 stars, “Stars and Bars” (1861–63)
Encyclopedia Virginia — Public Domain

The early Confederate “Stars and Bars” was so similar to the Union flag that it caused chaos on the battlefield. In late 1861, Generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston approved a new battle color to avoid confusion: a square red field with a blue saltire edged in white and one star for each seceded state. Designed by William Porcher Miles and sewn in Richmond flag depots from wool bunting, this flag became the distinctive symbol of Confederate armies.

Original Confederate battle flag (Army of Northern Virginia, c.1862).
National Museum of American History — Object ID NMAH_439645.
Smithsonian Open Access — CC0

Square flags were produced in several standard sizes—about 48 inches for infantry, 36 for artillery, and 30 for cavalry—made of wool bunting with appliquéd cotton stars. The “Southern Cross” became the visual shorthand for the Confederate cause and later the root of its modern, rectangular descendants used in the 20th century.

The modern rectangular “Southern Cross” familiar from the 1940s onward descends directly from this pattern. When post-war consumer flag production standardized at 3 × 5 ft, the Confederate design was printed to that format for general sale. The specimen documented here, measuring 85 × 140 cm, mirrors that standard metric proportion and shows the characteristic mid-century cotton weave and ink printing typical of commercially made flags used in the 1950s–60s.

Political and cultural evolution of the Confederate battle flag

After World War II, the Confederate battle flag evolved through successive political and cultural phases that redefined its meaning in American society. Its use shifted from memorial remembrance to political symbol, then to commercial motif and, ultimately, to a contested emblem of identity.

Racist and political element (1948–1960s)

From 1948 onward the Confederate battle flag re-entered national visibility when the States’ Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) adopted it as a protest symbol against federal civil-rights initiatives. During the 1950s and 1960s, segregationist groups, white citizens’ councils, and counter-protesters carried the flag as an emblem of resistance to desegregation and racial integration. Historians—most notably John M. Coski—identify this period as the point when the banner’s meaning shifted from a memorial emblem of the Civil War to a political statement opposing civil-rights reform. State-level actions reinforced that shift, including Georgia’s 1956 redesign that inserted the Confederate battle device in direct reaction to Brown v. Board of Education. This context explains the flag’s recurring presence in mid-century photographs of rallies and counter-demonstrations.

Late-20th century reinterpretation (1970s–1990s)

From the 1970s onward, the Confederate battle flag entered a new phase of public use. It appeared on consumer items, regional souvenirs, and in popular culture, often detached from its segregation-era context. Advocates framed it as a symbol of Southern heritage and military remembrance, while critics viewed that reframing as an evasion of its modern political associations. Public controversy intensified after 1980, as civil-rights organizations called for its removal from official displays and state symbols. By the 1990s the emblem had become a recognized cultural flashpoint—used simultaneously as an expression of identity, defiance, and, in extremist contexts, racial provocation.

21st-century visibility and reassessment (2000s–present)

In the early 21st century the battle flag remained present in regional and online subcultures, but increasingly contested in public institutions. Following the Charleston church shooting (2015), several U.S. states and military installations formally removed Confederate imagery from official contexts. The South Carolina State House flag was lowered that same year, marking a decisive symbolic shift. While heritage groups continue to display the emblem at private or commemorative events, mainstream political and military bodies no longer recognize it as representative of historical remembrance. Today the flag functions primarily as a cultural and ideological marker—interpreted variously as heritage, protest, or provocation depending on context and audience.

Documentary context — Civil Rights era imagery

Bernard J. Kleina, Chicago Freedom Movement march, Marquette Park, 5 Aug 1966.
National Museum of African American History & Culture — Object ID 2013.140.21.
Museum record — CC0 / Smithsonian Open Access.

Declan Haun, Men with Confederate flags at an Open Housing March, Bogan/Ashburn, Chicago, Aug 1966.
Chicago History Museum — Declan Haun Collection.
Museum record — Public Domain / Educational Use.

Where this flag was used (construction alignment)

The previous owner reports use at a counter-demonstration in Chicago in 1966 during the Chicago Freedom Movement. We cannot yet verify that at object level, but the type-level plausibility is strong. Archival material from that summer documents hand-carried rectangular Southern Cross flags among counter-protesters. Bernard J. Kleina’s color photograph from Marquette Park, 5 August 1966—held by the National Museum of African American History and Culture—explicitly notes a Confederate flag visible at the right edge of the scene. The Los Angeles Times’ same-week reporting described two white youths leading the hostile crowd, one carrying a U.S. flag and the other a Confederate flag on long bamboo poles. The Chicago History Museum’s Declan Haun series from the Bogan/Ashburn neighborhood also shows men holding Confederate flags at an open-housing march. Nevertheless this type of flag and its construction was used in counter demostration against black civil rights throughtout the late 509's and 60's . All of this aligns with FG-054’s build: a printed, commercial, ~3×5-ft rectangular flag carried on a pole.

Final conclusion

FG-054 is a commercial printed Southern Cross flag in the ubiquitous 3 × 5 proportion, manufactured in the mid-20th century. It matches the flag type documented among counter-protesters in Chicago in 1966. The event-specific attribution remains unverified: until we have a dated place, chain of custody, or a photographic feature match, the correct wording is: previous owner-reported use at a Chicago counter-protest in 1966; typological match to documented flags from those events; object-level attribution unverified.

Detail images

Central section of the flag showing the blue diagonal with three white stars. Typical mid-field area with visible fabric folds.

Section of the blue diagonal with two stars, showing moderate discoloration and surface wear.

Close-up of a single star within the blue field, revealing the weave texture and light patination.

Reverse side toward the fly end, showing white straight-stitch construction.

Corner seam detail with frayed fabric and worn edges.

Damage visible along the upper edge.

Hoist corner with brass grommet, edge discoloration, and hand-sewn reinforcement.

Opposite hoist corner with second brass grommet, lighter canvas band, and abrasion marks.

Hoist band detail showing stitching pattern and subtle tonal variation in the canvas.

Transmitted-light view showing fiber density and weave pattern in the red field.

Sources & References

• Encyclopedia Virginia, “Confederate Battle Flag” — origin and wartime square specifications; politicized mid-century usage.
• John M. Coski, The Confederate Battle Flag, Harvard University Press — analysis of the emblem’s shift into segregationist/counter-protest politics.
• National Museum of African American History & Culture, Bernard J. Kleina, Marquette Park, Aug 5 1966 (Object ID 2013.140.21).
• Los Angeles Times, Aug 6 1966 — report on Marquette Park march noting U.S. and Confederate flags on bamboo poles.
• Chicago History Museum (Declan Haun series), Open Housing March, Bogan/Ashburn 1966 — counter-protesters carrying Confederate flags.
• New Georgia Encyclopedia, “State Flag, 1956–2001” — Georgia’s addition of the battle emblem in response to Brown v. Board.
• Flags of the World / CRW Flags — background on the Confederate naval jack (rectangular lineage).

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26 October 2025