The Confederate States of America adopted three different national flag patterns between 1861 and 1865. The Provisional Confederate Congress adopted the First National pattern, also referred to as the “Stars and Bars,” on March 4, 1861. This pattern flag flew over the Capitol at Montgomery, Alabama, where the Provisional Congress met prior to the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861.
The Second National pattern, also referred to as the “Stainless Banner,” was adopted May 1, 1863 and incorporated the Army of Northern Virginia’s battle flag design in the canton on a white field. The first official use of the Second National pattern flag was on Stonewall Jackson's casket when his body lay in state in Richmond, May 10, 1863.
The Third National pattern, adopted March 4, 1865, shortened the white field and added a vertical red bar to the end of the Second National pattern flag. Very few, if any, of the Third National pattern flags saw service during the war, since General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrendered just a few weeks later at Appomattox.
In addition to the national flags of the Confederacy, there were many battle flag patterns used by the Confederate armies. After the Civil War, 545 captured Confederate flags were held by the U.S. War Department in Washington, D.C. These flags were stenciled with a number in black ink and, in some cases, capture histories were handwritten on linen tags sewn onto the flag. Detailed records were kept so that the government could award the Congressional Medal of Honor for capturing an enemy flag. Today, these records, detailed in the National Archives’ Register of Captured Flags, are valuable tools for historians.
In 1905, Congress passed legislation returning the captured flags to the Southern States. The Museum of the Confederacy was the recipient of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 75 repatriated flags. In 1906, another 252 flags from unidentified Confederate units were also entrusted to the Museum, creating the world’s largest collection of Wartime flags.The following are among the battle flag patterns represented in the
Museum’s collection:
