While several states and cities attempt to remove Confederate iconography, let's remember a place that is often overlooked in these conversations...Arkansas.
Look at the flag. Nothing to do with the Confederacy right? Riiight. A little history...
Look at the flag. Nothing to do with the Confederacy right? Riiight. A little history...
Arkansas did not have an official state flag until 1913 when the Pine Bluff chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution co-sponsored a flag design competition. Willie Hocker's design (left) won, but they added the state name to the final design.
The blue diamond represents Arkansas as the only diamond-producing state in the U.S. The 25 stars mean that AR was the 25th state. The three stars stand for, among other things, each nation that ruled Arkansas: France, Spain, and the U.S.
But some saw a problem. No star on the flag indicated that Arkansas had been part of the failed Confederate States of America. So in 1923, in the middle of the Jim Crow era, the Arkansas Legislature added a fourth star. Two above, two below. Problem solved! Not quite...
Some of the state's residents complained about the new 4-star design. They said it was "unsymmetrical", and wanted it changed. So in 1924 the Legislature rearranged the stars with one above "Arkansas" and three below. The one above represents...you guessed it. The Confederacy.
So the state flag has remained since the Jim Crow era. Until Rep. Charles Blake, who is Black, introduced a bill to change the meaning of the single star in March 2019. It would no longer represent the Confederacy but the Native American nations that first governed the area.
The bill to change the written meaning of the star on the Arkansas flag died in committee. One Republican opponent, a self-described historian for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, denigrated Native Americans in the process. The Lost Cause lives on.
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So the bill to change the meaning of a single star on the Arkansas flag--a measure that would not have changed the appearance of the flag, did not cost any money, and had the support of the governor--did not even make it to the floor for a vote. It's time for a change Arkansas.
