The Stars of the Confederacy
We have 48 states in the Union, so our na¬
tional flag' has 411 stars. There were only
11 states in the Confederacy but the Con¬
federate flag had 13 stars.
Two tcen-agcd youths in Wilming¬
ton were engaged in a heated argu¬
ment.
“1 tell you that there were thirteen
Confederate states!” exclaimed one.
“Eleven!” insisted the other.
“I can prove that there were thir¬
teen!”
“How can you prove it?”
“We’ve got a Confederate flag in
our house and I’m almost positive that
there are thirteen stars on it.”
“Let’s go look at it.”
So they went inside. The flag was
produced and the stars were counted.
“You see: thirteen!”
The other boy ruefully admitted that
he had been in error.
Actually, however, he had been
correct wiien he said that there were
eleven states in the Confederacy. This
leads to the query: “Why, then, are
there thirteen stars on the Confederate
flag?”
History of the Flag
Before endeavoring to answer it.
the readers of this article may be in¬
terested in knowing that there were
four separate and distinct designs of
the flag of the Confederate States of
America.
The initial design, known as the
“Stars and Bars,” was adopted by the
Confederate Congress in session at
Montgomery, Ala. It was first raised
on its staff on March 4, 1861, by
Miss Elsie Tyler of Virginia, a grand¬
daughter of John Tyler, former presi¬
dent of the United States.
The second, known as the “Battle
Flag,” was drawn up by General P. T.
Beauregard and was adopted by Gen¬
eral Joseph E. Johnston after the first
battle of Manassas (Bull Run), and
later endorsed by the Confederate
Congress. The reason for its accept¬
ance was that in the smoke and dust
of battle the “Stars and Bars” was
frequently mistaken for the “Stars and
Stripes.” The design of the “Battle
Flag” was conceived on the field of
battle, the flag lived on the field of
By LOUIS T. MOORE
battle and it was proudly borne in
every engagement from Manassas to
Appomattox.
The third design was adopted May
1, 1863, and was known as the “Na¬
tional Flag” of the Confederate States.
The same name was given to the
fourth design, which was adopted on
March 4, 1865 by the Confederate
Congress- The reason for the new'
design was that when the third flag
fell limp around its staff during calm
weather, it resembled a flag of truce.
But now let us go back to our query
about why there are thirteen stars in
the Confederate flag when there were
only eleven states in the Confederacy.
Fitzhugh Lee’s Statement
I find that the best answer to this
question was given by none other
than Major General Fitzhugh Lee of
the Confederate States Army. He was
a nephew of General Robert Edward
Lee and was also a governor of his
native state of Virginia.
A few years after the War Between
the States, General Fitzhugh Lee wrote
a brilliant article entitled “The Con¬
federate Soldier in the Civil War.” The
following statement which he incorpo¬
rated in this story gives a plausible
answer to the query concerning the
number of stars in the flag.
“The people of the thirteen original
colonies or states believed fully in a
state’s sovereignty. The Southern peo¬
ple were educated in the belief that
the allegiance of a citizen was first
due to his state and that in conflict
between his commonwealth and the
United States, or any other country,
his place was at her side — at her feet
he should kneel and at her foe his
gun should be pointed.
“This is the only explanation of
the great and enthusiastic response
by the masses of the people to their
actions, following their state conven¬
tions, when they decided that their
states should no longer be members of
the federal union but should resume
their original independence. In order
to emphasize this, thirteen stars were
incorporated in the design of the flag,
symbolic of the fact that the South
would be free forever after to make
such alliances elsewhere as they might
deem best to protect their rights and
promote their growth and glory.”
General Lee’s analysis seems to be
confirmed and strengthened by a quo¬
tation from the American Encyclope¬
dia under the chapter title “Confeder¬
ate States.” It follows:
“A constitution for the provisional
government of ‘The Confederate
States of America’ was adopted Feb¬
ruary' 8, 1861. In the preamble the
words ‘each state acting in its sover¬
eign and independent character’ were
inserted to include the doctrine of
state sovereignty and to exclude the
argument of the old constitution of the
national government that it had been
made by the people of the states col¬
lectively and not by the states them¬
selves as individual units.”
*
Logical Explanation
And so, unless a better, more valid
and forceful reason can be advanced,
it appears that the explanation offered
by that gallant old soldier, General
Fitzhugh Lee, of the Confederate
States’ armies, as the reason for the
thirteen stars appearing on the flag
of the Confederacy, should be general¬
ly accepted and received as authorita¬
tive and correct. The thirteen original
states were free and independent: the
South wished to maintain this heritage
and therefore placed the thirteen stars
on its flag. The number of Southern
states had nothing to do with it.
Incidentally, I wonder if you have
noticed the popularity of the flag in
recent months? Throughout all sec¬
tions of the United States small battle
flags of the Confederate States of
America have been proudly fluttering
in the air from passing automobiles.
Southern boys in Japan, Korea and
other parts of the world have written
home, asking relatives and friends to
send them Confederate flags.
4
THE STATE, AUBUBT 11, 1951