The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1868-01-08


Hickman !-,SoNtdtern Opinion.
History of the Confederate Flag.
The lowered banner of the Stars and
Bars is turled forever. no longer the sym
bol of struggling people, nor ms we had
one day hoped to look upon 1.-THE flag OF
nation-the Confederate States of Amer
ica-free and independent. But our flag
has a history, and the .ime has come when
to preserve that history from oblivion
some record should be made of it.
The author of the new design adopted
by the Confederate Congress was Major
A. l.. Rogers, Confederate States Artllle-
ry, who, while disabled from active SER
vice in the field, devoted some of his lels-
ure hours to improve the national emblem.
After much attention to the subject, and
the laws of hcraldry, Major Rogers, Ill
January. 1865, submitted his desigh to
Congress; and on the 18th of that month,
Mr.. Semmcs, of Louisiana, submitted the
following bill i'll the Senate:
&c a BILL. TO ESTABLISH TIE FLAG OF TIE
CONFEDERATE STATES.
"The Congress of the Confederate
States of America do enact. That the flag
of the Confederate States shall be rs fol-
lows: The width two-thirds of its length,
with the union (now used as the battle
tiag) to he in width three-ffths of the
width of the flag, and so proportioned as
to leave the length of the field on the side
of the union twice the width OF the field
below it; to- have the ground red, and a
blue salticr thereon, bordcrcd with white
and cmblazoned with mullets or five
pointed stars, corresponding in number to
that of the Confederate States; the field
to he white except the outer halt from the
union to be red bar extending the width
Of the flag"
Before offering the bill, Mr.. Semmes adj
dressed letter to General Lee, COM
manting the army of Northern Virginia,
and requested his views on the proposed
alteration. General Lee replied that he
thought it every pretty and % that it
certainly added distinctncss to the flag;
but, with his usual 4nodesty, said he mis-
trusted his own Judgment in such matters,
and that the Naval Committee were the
proper gentlemen TO be consulted. The
bill was accordingly referred to the Com
miitee on Naval Affairs, and after various
plans had been submitted, and the opln-
IONS of leading officers of the navy OBJ
tanned, said committee unanimously re-
commended its adoption.
Among the distinguished Confederate
officers who approved the design of Major
Rogers, and recommended his proposed al
teration in the national symbol OF the
Confederate States, were General J. +.
Johnston, General S. Cooper, Lieutenant
General iwcll, Lieutenant General Long
street $ Inspector General, Major Generals
Fitz ice. l;osscr and Lonlax of cavalry !;
Briuadier Generals Pcndlcton and Long
Of artillery; Major General lleth, Major
General Smith, Governor of Virginia; Ma
ior General Smith, Superintendent of the
Virginia Military Institute; Captain n.
w. Barker, Acting Chief of Signal Bu-
rea; Captain Wibourn, of Signal Corps !;
Briraditr General Wharton, Colonel j. s.
MoSby, and many other distinguished Off
GERS OF the army.
AS descriptive of the flag, we sHhjoin
some extracts from letter Of Major Ro-
pcrs. addressed to Hon. Edward Sparrow,
Chairman Of the Committee on Naval Al
fairs, Confederate States Senate:
".rhc portion of the flag proposed to be
changed to red bar is the part, TOO, most
rapidly defaced 1t is strongly urged by
naval officers of high standing, that our
llac is liable to be mistaken tor flag OF
truce, particularly i'll a calm, when 1t
hangs dead against the mast and the union
is obscurcd bv the white bunting. When
seen at a distance, flags are generally dis
plaved against the white clouds beyond,
and hence want of distinctness is great
defect in the present flag, the union beng
the only portion seen.
"Thc battle flag selected by General
Johnston and recommended by himself
and General Bcauregard, under which so
much blood has been spilled i'll our strng-
rlc for independence, is fully displayed rs
the union OF the proposed flag, which can
only be done by surrounding it with
white, and the white bar, forming the
outer half of the field from the union, is
suggested as the best design for its inl-
provcment. l am opposed to all stripes,
many or few, red or blue. Instead OF
"he stars and stripes" let us have '1ac
Stars and Bars. The colors OF the new
flag would he chiefly white and red, with
as little rs possible of the Yankee blue.
"Thc heradic significance of these
colors is deemed especially appropriate for
the Confederate States-thc white (n'gcnt)
being emblenatic of purity and innocence,
anil the red (gulrs) OF tortitude md conr-
age. In the adoption of cnsigns by vari-
ous nations of the world, it is noticed by
Captain Hamilton, i'll the history of the
United States flag, that they generally
initiate the ensigns of the nations from
which they sprung. This rule is complied
with in the flag as proposed, for our peo-
pie are chiefly descended from the British
and the French, and we get the union