 The
first official flag of the confederacy was the Stars and Bars, and
was reported to the provisional congress of the C.S.A. by the flag
committee on March 4,1861.
When the Stars and Bars was first raised over the capitol building
in Montgomery, it contained seven stars, representing the
Confederate States. By the third week of May two more stars were
added to the Stars and Bars, representing Virginia and Arkansas.
In July the addition of North Carolina and Tennessee increased the
number to eleven and finally the admission of Kentucky and
Missouri in December brought the circle of stars on the Stars and
Bars to thirteen.
The "Stars and Bars" is believed have been designed by Nicola
Marschall, a Prussian Artist and to have been inspired by the
Austrian flag. The Stars and Bars appears in many variations with
stars ranging from 7 to 15 stars. The seven stars represent the
original Confederate States; South Carolina (December 20, 1860),
Mississippi (January 9, 1861),Florida (January 10,1861),Alabama
(January 11, 1861),Georgia (January 19, 1861),Louisiana (January
26, 1861),and Texas (February 1, 1861). There were 11 states that
seceded from the Union, 2 (Kentucky and Missouri that had
confederate and union governments), 1 (Maryland) that attempted to
secede but whose legislature was disbanded by federal officials
and was unable to join the confederacy, even though it furnished
more troops to the cause then at least one member of that country
and 1 slave state (Delaware) that remained loyal to the union.
The reason for the variations in number of stars in the Stars and
Bars was due to lack of centralized purchasing. The original Stars
and Bars had 7 stars and more were added as additional states
joined and the flag makers became aware of the number of states.
The Stars and
Bars was used as the official Rebel flag from March 1861 to May of
1863. The pattern and colors of the Stars and Bars did not
distinguish it sharply from the Stars and Stripes of the Union.
Consequently, considerable confusion was caused on the
battlefield. So, the Stars and Bars was replaced by the
Stainless
Banner in 1863.Put the
Stars and Bars on your
computer desktop with some
Stars and Bars wallpaper! |
