It appears the old south won't fade away into oblivion and silence. The Stars and Bars or the flag better known as the Southern Cross or St Andrew’s keeps fighting to stay alive. It is the most famous flags of the 1800’s.

As soon as unemployment rises or America goes into an economic funk, the red flag with the blue cross and white stars fly high. When Americans visit a gas station and do not have enough to pay for the black gold that fuels their cars, the Southern Battle flag flies. When most Americans can not pay the rent or the mortgage, the Stars and Bars comes out.

Each Confederate State changed its state flag as a symbol of defiance and independence to the Union or the United States of America. Each State in the Confederacy (CSA) had a part of the Stars and Bars imbedded in their state flag.

Six states dropped this identification in their state flag after the Civil War. They wanted to put an end to the horrible past while the other states never wanted to forget and arranged some form of the (CSA) flag in the new post Civil War era. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Tennessee and the new 2003 Georgia flag fly today.

The very first confederate flag was born in South Carolina. It was named "The Citadel Battle Flag" and was often called "Big Red" or "The Palmetto Flag". It had a big white palmetto tree in the middle field of a red and a white crescent moon in the left-hand corner. The first shots fired in the Civil War had this flag flying over Fort Sumpter.

In April 1861, the Palmetto Flag changed minutely. The tree changed to a dark green color and the crescent moon changed to a red star. This version was displayed after confederate troops captured Fort Sumpter. This flag stayed over the fort until May of 1862.

The First National Confederate flag is The Bonnie Blue Flag. This flag’s design has a navy blue flag with a large white star in the middle on January 9, 1861 the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, and TEXAS adopted the ordnance of Secession with this flag. When the other southern states joined the confederacy years later the Bonnie Blue flag. Bonnie Blue only flew in the Deep South, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas kept this flag throughout the War. The state of TEXAS moved the Bonnie Blue Flag to the left side of their state flag but added one red and one white large horizontal strip to the right side of the flag.

The second (CSA) flag had a blue square box with seven white stars that formed a circle in the upper left corner. This flag had a white base with three big horizontal strips two red strips at the top white strip in the middle and red strip on the bottom This flag confused many on the battlefield because it resembled the Union National flag. The first official duty rendered under this flag was the inauguration of the Confederacy’s only President, Jefferson Davis on March 4, 1861. Most southern states kept some form of this flag after the war ended the old Georgia State flag, Mississippi, North Carolina, and TEXAS, were the most prominent. Tennessee and Arkansas re-arranged their flag with ties to the second national confederate flag.

The third flag was adopted on May 1, 1863. A white base flag with the Stars and Bars, Southern Cross or St Andrew’s Cross in the left top corner. This flag was sometimes known as the Stainless Banner because it was so clean going into battle, stating the purity of the mission of the Southern Armies. This flag was often mistaken as a flag of surrender on the battlefield when it hung limp. The flag was scraped early by the Confederate general staff. The first official duty of this flag was to cover the casket of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson at his state funeral.

The next National flag had similarities to the first flag. The Stars and Bars or Southern Cross in the upper left hand corner the two large red horizontal stripes two with stripes, one at the top and one at the bottom of the flag, with a large blue horizontal stripe in the middle of the flag. Many Confederate Generals liked this flag because of the large horizontal stripes with the addition of the Blue horizontal stripe in the middle of the standard. Very few states in the Deep South ever used this flag because it cost so much to produce.

The most famous flag is the Confederate Battle or Naval flag. The red field, white, and blue Stars and Bars cross. The Southern Cross or St Andrews Cross-was used by the Confederate irregular armies, the Confederate militia, and Confederate sympathetic southern cowboys. This flag is now being displayed by the Southern clandestine night riding groups like the Ku Klux Klan, the White Knights, the White Chameleons, and the American Nazi Party. It has become a symbol of white American extremist groups not that of the old confederate army

The final National flag dated March 1865 displayed the Stars and Bars or the Southern Cross in the upper left-hand corner on a white field with a large vertical red strip at the right end of the flag. This is the flag the Regular Confederate Army used until the end of the war and was the flag that Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant. The sixth and final Confederate National Flag should have been retired that day but it still lives on through the state flags of Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.

Here are the flags of the confederacy and the seven states that fly some form of these flags you decide for yourself weather these states are still flying the old St Andrews or Great Southern Cross.

It is noteworthy to state here Gibbs Magazine attempted to respond to the writer who question the validity of the writers knowledge of the history regarding the aforementioned flags. It is also interesting to note that the inquires did not give a valid e-mail address.

This just gives credence to the point that at certain times the some Americans will not give up on racism. Even though many honest and true Americans want to put this countries racist past behind them. We may need to perform the acts of kindness like the new South Africans when their government wanted to start a program of complete and absolute clarifications. Wiping out the crimes of the past of White and Black South Africans. Nelson Mendela’s nation is showing the world how to forgive and how to forget.

America wants to heal, but some of these same southern states fight hard to keep the very symbol of slavery and bondage. They keep waving the symbol that proclaimed Jim Crow laws legal. The Former Governor of Alabama George Wallace stated many times, "Segregation here, Segregation now, and Segregation forever". Governor Wallace placed the Confederate battle flag on top of the Alabama State capitol building in 1963.

Each one of these old southern confederate states should have followed their sister states, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky and Virginia. Georgia becomes the latest to remove their old flag in 1996-1997 only to reinstated it with modifications in 2003. This created disappointment in the citizens of Georgia. Was this temporary change just an act to receive the Summer Olympic games in the middle 1990’s? Only to go back to business as usual after the games were over.

Do not fly these flags if America wants racial unity, harmony, and diversity.

The Confederate Flag has become a flag of oppression, a flag of bigotry and a flag of hate.

It is a flag that divides our nation. It is a flag that should be retired and put in a southern historical museum. It should never be flown again in the United States.

It would be an act of kindness and true peace to remove this flag from the American environment. Put the confederate flag back to its historical roots as an economic, political, and social fight not the racial fight of today.

You now have the knowledge. It is in your hands to act and inform others with this information.

The Stars and Bars must come down every American flagpole to have true racial harmony and peace in the United States of America. This is such a small and painless gesture that should have been done 50 years ago. Can this goal be achieve today?

If you really want to begin the healing then everybody in America will have to start with the simple acts of kindness. Changing the confederate style state flags would be a simple start.