The economic sanctions will continue until the flag no longer flies. The flag's removal from the dome came during an eventful day in South Carolina. As the flag debate heated up over the past year, it cost the state tens of millions of dollars in lost tourist revenue. It also sparked a reexamination of Confederate symbols throughout the South. A similar tourism boycott has been threatened in Georgia, which still incorporates the Confederate battle flag in its state flag.
Supporters say the banner represents part of their southern heritage.
But critics counter that it glorifies the era of slavery, and that its continued use by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups has tainted it as a symbol of hate. Like video poker, the Rebel flag had long been a political firecracker. Local newspapers, including the State in Columbia, noted that few state legislators were expected to attend today's ceremony, begging off with family and holiday commitments. There were no speeches. Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat who had supported the flag's removal from the dome but drew criticism from black leaders for not speaking out more forcefully, accepted the lowered flag inside the rotunda from two Citadel cadets.