Talk:Confederate flag/@comment-26279493-20150801191904

The Flag in the image is a unit battle flag. It's a Confederate flag, but not the Confederate flag. This particular one is from the 38th Virginia Infantry. Each unit, from both sides, would have a unit standard a National Flag, and perhaps a State Flag. The flags served many purposes, they helped soldiers see where their unit was, helped commanders see where individual units were on the battlefield, etc. Command and Control was through messages which had to be carried by runners or riders, and the flags helped the messengers find their way in battle. South Carolina was just the last State to remove a CSA flag from it's Capitol Building, and it's one of the few Southern States who's flag contains no Confederate symbols. Despite National or International opinion, it's the decision of the people of South Carolina. I believe Jeb Bush had a CSA flag removed from the Florida Capitol Building when he was Governor. Each one of these flags has many meanings to the people who see them. It's far more complicated than the media makes it out. For soldiers, and for the descendants of those soldiers, the flags represent heritage, pride, and comraderie as well as the negative feelings like regret and even shame.