Did the Confederate States of America (CSA) Ever Have a White Flag?

Of course, the Confederacy had a white flag. It's the true flag of the big losers of 1865!

Flags Used by the Confederate Army

In the closing days of the war, the Confederate States of America (CSA) used a Southern Cross on a white field called 'The Stainless Banner.' Later, a red bar was added on the right side for valor. However, much has been made about it being a flag of surrender, but the staggering 350,000 Union casualties and the determination of the Confederate troops beneath that banner would tell a different story.

ADDENDUM: Say what you will about Robert E. Lee, but he didn't fool around when the last whistle blew. He knew there was no hope for the Confederate Army or the Confederacy. Once the Siege of Petersburg sat on their faces, he surrendered to Grant in the proper way, eschewing any suggestions of guerrilla warfare. He spent the rest of his life encouraging Southerners to accept the defeat and embrace change. Neo-Confederates could learn something from him, even with their veneration.

History of Confederate Flags

Well, there was also at the end – even then - an actual white flag. Gen. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to Gen. Grant at Appomattox with a dish towel. Now, think about that.

Interestingly, one of the earlier flags of the Confederacy, not the battle flags we are most familiar with, was a mostly white flag with the familiar 'Rebel cross,' as we used to call it. This was the second official flag of the Confederate States of America and was called 'The Stainless Banner.' Its origin is a matter of debate, but it's generally agreed that Savannah Morning News editor William Tappan Thompson played a key role in its popularity. He originally called it 'The White Man’s Flag,' but that never caught on. Its first official use was as a shroud for the coffin of Gen. Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, the second nutty general in the Confederate Army.

During its barely four-year existence, the Confederacy had three official flags, each with three or more variations. For example, some versions of the Stainless Banner used a color-reversed Battle Flag in the top right corner. Some had the Battle Flag larger or more of a rectangle than a square. The CSA's first flag was probably based on the Austrian flag – a blue square with white stars – initially just seven for the seven states that originally seceded but eventually encompassing all 13 states that were officially part of the CSA.

Its official name was 'The Stars and Bars,' so the next time someone calls the Battle Flag the Stars and Bars, you can be smugly pedantic to them. I say go for it. That flag lasted until May 1863 and then the Stainless Banner took over. While it was initially popular, it fell out of favor about the time the war was pretty much decided. It was all over but the shooting, as it were. Some said it bore too much resemblance to the 'failed Yankee flag,' with Savannah's Daily News editor William Thompson (no relation) saying it resembled the flag of 'the abolition despotism against which we are fighting.' Because, of course, the Civil War wasn’t about slavery.

The last flag the CSA used was very similar in design to the Stainless Banner, except for a thick vertical stripe to the right side of the white field. It was called 'The Blood-Stained Banner' and you must admit that's a pretty metal name. It was designed by Maj. Arthur Rogers, who agreed with much of the leadership in the military that the Stainless Banner looked too much like a flag of truce. By this point in the Civil War, March 1865, one month before the end, any delusions about 'glory enough for all' were put to bed without any supper.

So, that's a dozen or so variations on three flags, two of which are almost the same. It really isn't all that unusual for a young nation to go through a bunch of different designs in the early years of existence, especially one that started its existence on such shaky ground. That being said, the CSA's difficulty in settling for one is indicative of how much trouble their central government had in getting all the Southern states to behave properly. The CSA's constitution makes for some interesting reading.

In any event, most folks who want to “honour” the South and/or celebrate the Confederacy rarely use any of those flags. Some favor the Bonnie Blue Flag, which dates to the initial rebellion of West Floridians against then-Spanish rule in 1810. This led to the Louisiana Purchase and the flag was used both early in the Civil War and by the Republic of Texas.

But for the most part, it's the familiar Battle Flag that gained popularity in the South as a regional symbol and as a way to reminds everyone this was a white man's land post-Reconstruction. There are a number of theories as to why it became 'The Confederate Flag,' but the general consensus is that it was simply a more striking image than any of the official flags. Plus, it was used by Lee and Joe Johnston as the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee, respectively.