To some, the Confederate Rebel Flags Collection | Ultimate Flags Store is a symbol of Southern heritage, states’ rights, and historical commemoration of the Civil War. Others associate it with the Lost Cause, segregation, racism, and white supremacy. The recent Charleston church shooting and Unite the Right rally have rekindled debates about Confederate symbols, and public officials across the United States are reexamining how they display them.
Morain says the museum doesn’t plan to destroy its Confederate artifacts, but it has shifted how they are displayed. “Our goal is to tell the entire American story,” he said. “And that means examining the complicated history of secession, the Civil War and the enduring legacy of racism and the Confederate battle flag.”
Rebel with a Cause: Exploring the Rebel Flags Collection
A self-professed flag nerd (vexillophile), Jason Patterson is fascinated by what people use flags to say and how they represent their own identities. He has collected thousands of them over the years and recently curated an exhibition, Rebel Flags: The Confederate States of America, at American University’s Freer Gallery of Art.
The exhibit is a study of the most common, and controversial, Confederate state flags. It is also a look at how they have been used in popular culture. For example, the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit featured a Pontiac Trans Am with a Georgia state flag on its front license plate; the Dukes of Hazzard was set in fictional Georgia county, and Daisy’s General Lee stock car prominently displayed the flag.
