As Mississippi prepares to redesign their state flag it's important that legislators pick an innovative design instead of one with ties to the Confederacy and its racist and white supremist legacy. Gather round #twitterstorians let us review rebel southern flags…1/ 
The most recognizable today is the ‘battle flag,’ or ‘St. Andrew’s Cross.’ The rebel govt, however, had 3 official flags with numerous variants: the ‘stars and bars’, the ‘stainless banner’ & finally the ‘blood-stained banner’. 2/
Less known, the bonnie blue was commonly used as an unofficial flag at the time. Slavers first used the flag in 1810 for the Republic of West Florida & the Republic of Texas used a version w/ a yellow star. After 1861, secessionists flew it at the Mississippi capitol….3/
The ‘stars & bars’ was the first official rebel flag from 1861-1863. Designed by German Nicola Marscall in AL, he combined the bonnie blue flag with the Austrian flag. More stars were added as more southern states seceded. 4/
When you examine the state flags of NC, GA & TX the resemblance is eerie. Fun fact, from 2001-3 GA changed their state flag from a variation of the battle flag to the stars and bars. And they called it progress... 5/
The rebel govt adopted the ‘stainless banner’ from 1863-5; it depicted a St. Andrews Cross, the battle flag, with a white banner. In 1865 they added the final ‘blood stained’ design (these were referred to as the ‘white man’s flag’). 6/
Rebel newspapers at the time explained, "As a people we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause." 7/
Digression – What appears to be a cousin of the stainless banner: the Christian flag flown by American protestant churches. Designed in 1895 and formally adopted by the US Federal Council of Churches in 1942. 8/
It's problematic given the South’s biblical defense of slavery & the lyrics of the Rebel version of the song “Battle Cry of Freedom,” which cried, “down with the eagle and up with the cross.” In the South church & state were not separated, see Bishop Gen. Leonidas Polk. 9/
MS is the last state to retain the battle flag. Still, AL & FL’s flags also have suspicious ties to white supremacy. Despite resemblance to Scotland & colonial Spain, any cross is problematic given their history & the battle flag’s symbolism for slavery, secession, & treason.
Not only are the flag designs suspicious, but the period in history they were adopted should raise alarm. States such as NC, AL, FL, MS and TX adopted their flag designs after white supremacist or redeemer state govts over threw Reconstruction. 11/
The SC state flag is the same one adopted in 1861. Even, seemingly benign flags like Louisiana’s pelican flag (adopted in 1912) was flown as a rebel battle flag during the Civil War (tho I guess they didn't include ‘union, justice, confidence’). 12
The history of flags associated with slavery & white supremacy is messy, confusing & complex. It might be impossible to remove all state flags with designs flown by traitors, especially as people assign new meanings to them. 13
I am happy to see Mississippi is serious about redesigning their flag, still, I hope they do research before they adopt a new one so that they don't replace an overtly racist flag with a subtly racist design. Here are more I didn't mention. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 14/
"tHe tExAs fLag pRedAtes tHe CiVil wAr." Means you didn't actually read the thread because that is my point. The Bonnie-Burnett Star represented slaver Republics in West Florida and Texas. Texas Independence from Mexico was about...wait for it...SLAVERY. history.com/topics/us-stat…
