Confederate Flag, is it legal to fly outside?

Question

I have a Confederate battle flag on my wall in my home, and thought of flying it outside. Bad thought, some people would be offended, but people can fly almost any other flags and I get offended, but who cares. Is it because blacks think blacks didn't fight for the South? I have pictures that prove they are wrong.

Answer 1

There were 15000 black soldiers in the confederate army fighting the union army.

Fly your flag properly. Fly it below or at the same level as the victors flag. Follow the same flag protocall as with the victors flag.

I fly mine daily. ain honor of all who fought and died for both sides in an unnecessary war.

Bless all Black and White- North and South who Died .

Answer 2

It might be illegal to fly the confederate battle flag outside. You should check with your city hall. If they say it's okay and since the Constitution does protect your right to free speech in the first amendment, then I suppose you can fly the flag.

But just because you can, should you?

Although you might think the flag looks cool or badass, when you balance that against the flag's context in the greater world, you might think differently (or you might not).

The flag is not offensive because blacks think blacks didn't fight for the South. The flag is offensive to some because it represents a society that maintained a system of slavery. However, to others the flag represents the loftier ideal of states' rights.

Which is right? Which is wrong? Are both right and both wrong? Is one more right than the other? How much weight should you give your impression that it's a cool flag?

These are all facets of the flag that you should consider before making the decision to fly it.


The Original Flag Desecration
Jamin B. Raskin
July 5, 2005
Jamin B. Raskin is a professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at American University. He is author of Overruling Democracy, a 2003 Washington Post Bestseller with a chapter called "Unflagging Patriotism."

When the House of Representatives passed the proposed constitutional amendment against "flag desecration," the politicians struck a blow not for patriotism but government thought control. Yet, ironically, our poorly educated right-wingers have now set America on course to criminalize the displaying of the Confederate flag, an accident that will leave many of them confused and scrambling to rewind their opportunism.

The mistake supporters of the Amendment make is to assume that flag "desecration" means flag burning, which it certainly does not. As any Boy Scout or Girl Scout knows, federal law today recommends flag burning as the proper mode of flag disposal. The U.S. Code provides that a flag that an owner no longer considers a "fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."

So, under the new amendment, it will not be a crime to burn a flag. It only will be a crime to burn a flag in a context that suggests you have a political message critical of a nearby government official or authority figure. The Boy Scouts will continue to win promotions and badges for burning flags in public. But protestors deemed patriotically incorrect by local police and prosecutors will go to jail for the same act.

Answer 3

My offense from the Confederate Flag has nothing to do with blacks. I feel the Confederates lost the war (over 140 years ago...) and there is no reason to fly it. The men who flew that flag broke away from our nation, and like the founders of America, could have been tried for treason (if they won, no one would have cared, that's why the colonists weren't tried). A nation's flag represents that nation. You're flying a flag of a nation that no longer exists. Why do you want to do that? Do you like the colors on the flag, or do you like what the flag represents (a new nation, freedom to own slaves, the South apart from the North etc.)? We are free to choose how we express our views, I just happen to be one who thinks the Confederate Flag has no place in our nation. The country no longer exists, so what's the point? Depending where you live will determine how much feedback you recieve from your community. Take that into consideration, as well.

Answer 4

The Stars and Bars - the Confederate battle flag - is considered by many to be a symbol of a time in American history when human life wasn't valued as much as it is today. The southern states' fight wasn't so much for slavery or for human ownership as it was for their right to do as they wanted without interference from the northern states.

The last generation of people who lived through those awful years of civil war have died off in the past few decades, so the memories of it that we have now are in the passed-down stories and pictures. Several symbols of that war remain - you can see civil war cannon in many town parks, there are museums that glorify either the South or the North, or both, and then there is the Confederate battle flag.

The Stars and Bars is not an insult to black people. It's not an insult to Northern people. It's not really an insult at all. It's just a harsh and unwelcome reminder of a time in America when the country was fill with hate and violence.

I kinda look at it like this: if you want to fly the Stars and Bars, or the Hammer and Sickle, or the Swastika, you just go right ahead. You have every right to express yourself anyway you want to.

The only caution I'd throw out there is that the friends it will gain you are not of a class I'd want around me, and the enemies it will gain you will last well beyond your "me me me" years.

Answer 5

It's legal, and the only thing that really matters is do you want to fly the Confederate Flag if it pleases you fly the flag don't worry about offending others cause they sure don't care about offending you or making you feel bad about what you like or want to do. It's not hurting anyone how could a flag hurt anyone, if they don't want to see it then let them look away.

Answer 6

If you want to, go ahead. There is no law saying you can't do so on your property. My family was heavily involved in the Confederate cause. Not to promote slavery, but to defend the right of the South to secede from the Union. I'm proud of that fact, but I also keep in mind that my great-great grandfather was caputered three times by the Yankees.

If someone voices an objection, take it into consideration. However, don't be surprised if some people treat you differently once they see that flag.

Answer 7

Yes it is legal to Fly the Confederate flag although it may tend to upset some Folks

Answer 8

You can have a yard full of flags to fly and it is legal. The only places that took the flag down was state office building and out of the schools.

Answer 9

Your taste in home decoration certainly isn't mine, however, to each his/her own.

I think you need to take a sensitivity course. That war this country had was over freeing of human beings that were treated worse than animals while enslaved. That flag, (heaven knows why anyone wants to even keep one), represents the mind-set of an era in which all of those horrible things took place.

Why don't your southerners join the union, the northerners won the war a long time ago? Give it up once and for all and don't offend anyone, white or black.

BTW, I am white and that flag ALWAYS offends me.

Answer 10

Yes, it is legal to fly the confederate flag.