Re: [DL] Southern heraldry

[Frempath2@netscape.net]

During the american civil war neither side had official anthems.
The unofficial anthems were:
Union - The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Confederacy - Dixie.

Flags,
The flag you, and most people, recognize as the flag of the confederacy is a red field with a blue St. Andrew's cross, and a number of stars on the cross equal to the number of member states.  Contrary to what the Klan, the NAACP and all the stupid little hate mongering groups want to you to believe, this flag was not, is not, and most likely will never be, the flag of the government of the confederacy.  This flag was used for unit designations, that is regimental colors and naval ensigns.

 There were a number of flags of the confederacy and variants of every type.  I am going to describe four of the basic types of the flags of the confederate government.

1) The Bonnie Blue Flag
The Bonnie Blue Flag is a blue field with a white disk in the center of the field.  The disk is about 1/3 the height of the flag.  This flag was used by session governments early in the conflict prior to the adoption of an official flag.  It was also used by a number of units as a regimental standard early in the war, and by Gen. Clayborne's units throughout the war.

2) The First National Flag  (The Stars and Bars)
The First National Flag had 3 stripes of equal height.  The top was red, the middle was white, and the bottom was red.  It had a square canton of blue which had sides equal to the combined height of the top and middle stripes.  On this field of blue were a number of stars equal to the number of member states which were arranged in a circle.  This flag was replaced due to its strong, and sometimes confusing, resemblance to the flag of the union.

3) The Second National Flag (The Stainless Banner)
The Second National Flag was a solid field of white with a canton resembling a confederate battle flag, red field with a blue St. Andrew's cross, and a number of stars on the cross equal to the number of member states.  This flag was replaced due to the fact that in calm weather the canton could not be seen and it then appeared as a flag of surrender.

4) The Third National Flag
The Third National Flag is basically the Second National Flag with a vertical red stripe running along the fly edge. ( the side opposite where the flag would be attached to a pole.)  This is the current flag of the Confederate States of America, as the Confederate Congress has yet to meet and approve a new design. :)

g'day
frempath





deadlands@gamerz.net wrote:
>
> Ladies & Gentlemen
> 
> Do You know, if Confederacy had official anthem and symbol?
> 
> And second thing, colors. To my players, I always picture Confederate
> cavalry bearing famous red standard with blue st. Andrew's cross, obligatory
> battletorn. Union troops have of course stars and stripes, much less torn:-)
> 
> But, on the movies, I saw many other standards, Northern and Southern. For
> example, red and white, or all white with small Confederate flag in the
> corner.
> 
> Could anyone knowledgeable tell me more about Civil War heraldry?
> 
> Yours truly
> 
> Tomasz F Misiorek
> 
> 
> To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@gamerz.net with
>     unsubscribe deadlands
> as the BODY of the message.  The SUBJECT is ignored.
> 
> 
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