 Not
more then a year after the adoption of the
Stars and Bars flag, the
Confederacy wanted to create a flag that was unlike the
Union's Stars and Stripes flag. Adopted on May 1, 1863 this new flag
displayed the Battle Flag
in the canton on a field of pure white, naming it "Stainless Banner". The specs were not
very strictly adhered to and in many cases the Stainless Banner
canton was rectangular. The white field of the Stainless Banner
flag is
symbolic for the purity of the cause which it represented.
One of the first uses for the Stainless Banner was to drape General Thomas J.
"Stonewall" Jackson's coffin. By order of the
President, the first Stainless Banner manufactured, layed atop his
coffin. This "Stainless Banner" is now on display in the Museum of
the Confederacy in Richmond.
Unfortunately, the Stainless
Banner was easily mistaken for a white flag of surrender
especially when the air was calm and the Stainless Banner hung
limply. So, the Stainless Banner was modified to include a
red bar on the fly. Thus giving us the
Last
Confederate Flag.
Put the Stainless Banner on
your computer desktop with
Stainless Banner wallpaper! |
