Flags are a very interesting piece of fabrics. The hold so many different meanings and representation depending on what they are. They can represent a whole country, and even cause controversy. To a historian their meaning is much different. They are a piece of history which needs to be preserved forever.
Key Takeaways:
- Flags can evoke strong emotions. Consider the recent controversy over flying the Confederate flag in South Carolina. Although they are used as symbols of governments and organizations, flags viewed differently by certain professionals.
- The flag took on a political meaning in 1948 when supporters of dissident Democrats, the so-called Dixiecrats, displayed the flag and “people consciously, purposely used it as a symbol of white Southern resistance to the federal government’s attempt at racial integration in the South,” Coski said.
- After the war the flag became a symbol of Confederate memory and later it became a symbol of Southern identity, Coski said. In the 1940s on Southern college campuses it became a popular symbol of things Southern, of collegiate hijinks and of rebelliousness, he said.
“Although the meaning of flags may change over time, conservators like Heffner remain focused on preservation.”
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