Virginia Flaggers raise Confederate flag off I-95 in Stafford
This flag rises above the tree line and is visible to motorists.
Update #3 — June 2, 2014; 9:40 AM
The Virginia Flaggers have hoisted a second Confederate battle flag over I-95, this one in Stafford, VA. Last year, the group caused controversy by raising a similar flag in Chesterfield County (see below).
From NBC 12:
The second flag is both taller and bigger than the first, standing 80 feet high, well above the tree line, and measuring 20 by 30 feet in size.
Virginia Flaggers said they’d like to raise more flags and “have several other projects in various stages of development.”
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Update #2 — September 30, 2013; 6:16 AM
On Saturday, the Virginia Flaggers hoisted their 15’ x 15’ Confederate flag off I-95 in Chesterfield County as hundreds of supporters looked on.
While the flag is quite large, it is difficult to see from the highway: “tall trees along the road’s shoulder make the flag difficult to see for northbound traffic and, with the Old Bermuda Hundred overpass, nearly impossible for southbound.”
Jimmy Jones of the Virginia Flaggers wrote on they group’s website that the group isn’t trying to re-fight battles of the past.
“Our battles are all defensive…in defense of the honor and good name of our ancestors, and against actions taken to dishonor them and desecrate their monuments and memorials.”
LEST WE FORGET! pic.twitter.com/CAjcKQBLn0— Susan Hathaway (@VaFlagger) September 28, 2013
Local group United RVA has countered the newly raised Confederate battle flag by hoisting a large American flag at a construction site in Richmond.
Flying high. #UnitedRVA pic.twitter.com/ExZVkLAdmb— UnitedRVA (@united_rva) September 28, 2013
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Update #1 — September 20, 2013; 10:18 AM
The Virginia Flaggers have unveiled the 15’x15’ Confederate Battle Flag that the group will hoist on September 28th on I-95 (see below).
Virginia Flaggers member Susan Hathaway tweeted this image of the unfurled flag on the steps of the Virginia Capitol:
Unveiling the I-95 RVA flag at the Virginia State Capitol. Details to follow… pic.twitter.com/ynImhZ9Pbc— Susan Hathaway (@VaFlagger) September 19, 2013
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Original — August 06, 2013
This past weekend, the Virginia Flaggers–the same folks that you’ll see outside the VMFA with Confederate flags most days–have leased a “property adjacent to Interstate 95, just South of Richmond, and will be erecting a 50’ pole, on which a 10 x15 Confederate Battle Flag will fly 24/7, 365 days of the year.”
In their words:
The flag will serve to welcome visitors and commuters to Richmond, and remind them of our honorable Confederate history and heritage.
The plan has sparked understandable controversy, and news magazine Mother Jones has picked up the story today, landing Richmond some embarrassing national attention.
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Ross Catrow
Founder and publisher of RVANews.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
No, no, noooo… Just as we’re finally on the cusp of shaking the “stuck-in-the-1800s” image that turns off people to our area, these guys want to erect this. Surely, it must violate some Chesterfield, or Richmond City ordinance. I can’t but shake my head. Respect for history is fine, but when you are using history to incite controversy, it is simply disingenuous. You can put the flag near the WHofC or the Tredegar Musuem, and be done with it.
Good for our fair city. What’ll really embarrass them is that the flag they’ve chosen is, technically, the battle flag of the Army of Tennessee, not the “battle flag of the Confederacy” as the story states, nor the “national” flag of the Confederacy (if such a thing can be said to exist), or even the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. You’d think a bunch of Confederacy-worshipping fanboys from Virginia would at least know which flag it is they’re trying to fly.
This flag is a source of Pride to Southerners, especially those of us with ancestors who trace back to the South. Let me get this straight: you want the tourism $’s as people visit Civil War landmarks with all the paintings, photo’s, etc of the era, but you want to act like this flag isn’t part of it? If this flag offends you, you probably don’t know that much about the Civil War anyway.
TalyMon, speaking as someone who has lots of FFV in her blood, the flag is Not a source of pride to me. The thought of registering as a DOC is repulsive. And I know plenty of Civil War history.
Free speech for all, except for hate speech. The confederate flag is a symbol of HATE. The heritage behind it, equates to HATE and white supremacy. God, so embarrassing.
This is horribly embarrassing.
WOOHOO! Stories like this make me so happy I wanna brush my tooth and kiss my sister! Southern pride!
Yeah I love World War II, I think German soldiers who fought for the Wehrmacht weren’t all Nazis, some of them fought honorably and were just soldiers caught in larger events. And somehow I manage to understand all this without needing to fly the Swastika. So the heritage not hate argument is the dumbest argument ever. Hey you lost get it through your head…or we’ll come down there and burn it down again.
L.R., you think free speech, even that to which you are opposed, should violate some ordinance? Wow.
You know flying the confederate flag is the dumbest thing a person can do. It’s a shortcut to saying ‘I have a low IQ.’ Lol, how many people go around constantly reminding themselves of that time they got their ass kicked trying to defend the right to enslave people. Oh yes, I know it wasn’t about slavery it was about ‘states’ rights.’ Yes a state’s ‘right’ to legalize slavery lol.
Maybe it’s my fourth grade home school education or all that moonshine talkin’, but that flag could only ever be interpreted as a proud symbol of our heritage. Plus, everyone at the cross burning agreed with me.
Oh man…this is almost as embarrassing as The Real Baby Mommas of Richmond local tv pilot that is begging for national attention (and before anyone goes there, I’m ot trying to compare the civil war to a tv show, but rather the act of drawing national attention to our city for an issue that I would rather not have a national “focus” for the City).
The Civil War was fought to end Slavery. Not for States rights, Southern pride? The so called Southern Cause was to keep Human Beings in Bondage! They can put all the spin on the “flag” that they want to. History
, yes and let’s learn from it. Do you see Monuments of Hitler in Berlin? NO!!!!
Hooray for last place!
“I’m all for free speech unless i don’t like what you are saying,” said by 90% of posters ;-)
This is bad on so many levals. Pathetic,sad and embarrassing.
Hey James, the North didn’t burn down Richmond, the Confederate soldiers did so upon retreating out of Richmond so that the Union soldiers wouldn’t be able to seize and use any of the goods stored in the warehouses. Yet another great example of southern intellect….. yeah.
A boon for Richmond’s bustling slave tourism industry.
The Nazis sought to and did commit mass genocide. Comparing them to the CSA is ridiculous. Confederate citizens were forced to defend their land as did their Northern counterparts. This a tragic example of brother vs. brother and I believe it is ok to pay tribute and remember those who died for their cause. Heritage is about the sacrifice of your ancestors, not their ideology.
Wait….the south lost, right?
@Abel P. Upshar, not at all. But there’s a line. While the flag might have some significance to the South and is technically not “offensive speech,” you still can’t deny that to a lot of people, it’s a divisive symbol – otherwise, we would not be having this discussion. Many of the folks who are a part of the VA flaggers are not even Virginians, let alone Richmonders, some coming as far away as GA and SC to put on their protests. They need to keep it in a museum. Displaying a huge Confederate flag like this unfairly imputes those views to the entire community. That said, there is probably no ordinance that can reach this display, and it’s the landowner’s prerogative whether to allow the flag to fly. But this being RVA, I can guarantee you there are people who will try to stop it from happening, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you find some organization ready to erect a 70ft flag pole with a 20ft Rainbow flag, right next door.
Really Richmond? Really? Can’t we keep in step with the rest of the country and recognize that this flag now is symbol of hatred and racism? It may have represented the South over 150 years ago, but it NO LONGER represents anything but hatred and racism.
I look forward to seeing this flag get burnt down every couple of weeks.
It’s all just dumb. You live here long enough and you just learn to accept that idiots like these flag wavers will always exist, and because of that Richmond won’t ever move past it’s shameful past. Someone ought to round up these hicks, bind them in chains and have them parade from Rockett’s Landing up to the old slave block in the bottom. Meanwhile the descendents of slaves can throw crap at them. That would all make us feel better. Just saying. Having a respect for history is one thing, rubbing what is obviously salt in a still sore wound is just insensitive and ignorant.
Disclaimer….I obviously don’t think that’s the solution….just blowing off some steam.
I know it’s the most “popular” of the CSA flags, but why not choose the Bonnie Blue or the First National? Sure, most driving by wouldn’t get it (and the press would ignore it) but those hold more historical punch for the real followers of “the Southern thing.” Plus, they are prettier flags IMO.
Richmond has a lot more things to be embarrassed about than raising of the Confederate Flag
Condemning the Confederate Flag is an act of evil.
Across the world that flag stands for Southern identity and heritage.
On every continent on Earth the Southern Cross battle flag stands as a living symbol of Southern identity and remembrance for the Confederate dead.
Hundreds of thousands of Southern men, women, and children fight every year to condemn the misuse of that flag by racist organizations who have no moral or legal claim to it.
When you condemn that flag and wrongly label it as racist you perpetuate a wrong-thinking and morally decadent viewpoint that advances only the cause of white supremacists and racial identity hatemongers.
Worse you commit an act of discrimination against Southerners of ALL races, religions and creeds who honor the Confederate battle flag rightly as a living symbol free of racial or political overtones.
To offer any condemnation against that flag, unless misuse on racial and ethnic grounds is proven, is itself an ACT OF HATRED and those groups and individuals who oppose its public display in all forms are no different than the very racist groups and individuals they claim to oppose.
Those who call this flag racist and attack individuals who honor its true meaning and fight against its misuse give unwitting support to racists groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
Those who see the misuse of this flag and do nothing to speak out against those who display it wrongly for hateful purposes are likewise no different than those racists who commit this unforgivable and inexcusable act of hatred against Confederate descendants and the Southern people as a whole.
Don’t be a Tool, stop the blind hatred against this flag.
Some really interesting comments here, especially about slavery. For all the people who say the Confederate Flag is a symbol of slavery, racism, and hatred, did you know there was not one slave brought to the U.S. or the C.S.A. under the Confederate Flag. Racism and hatred has come from hate groups, the majority of people who support and want to see the Confederate Flag flying are not racist or hate people because of someone’s color. The majority of slaves were all imported to the U.S. under the Union Jack and U.S. flags. Also, there is a thing as free speech that is protected under the Constitution. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of our country and like it or not it is here to stay.
Two thousand years ago the Roman Cross was the worst symbol of tyranny and oppression the world had ever known. Under it tens of thousands were brutally murdered and enslaved, all in the name of imperialism. All it took was one remarkable man, and after him hundreds and thousands of others to turn the terror that blood-tainted symbol evoked in people around the world into a symbol of the best of human nature and love for fellow man. Today the Christian Cross stands as one of the most recognized symbol of sacrifice in the name of brotherly love to over a billion human beings.
And of course that was a symbol that started out as a negative one, not just one that was misused as a negative one. As I said before, tainted does not mean tarnished beyond redemption.
Proper education, mutual respect, and the advancement of true tolerance to change perceptions is the only honorable and decent way to end this debate. We who honor the living symbol of our Southern identity are in this for the long haul. Even if it takes a generation or longer, we have both the will and the determination to see it through, because we know that the stakes are condemning the very memories of those who served the South in war and handing their most cherished banner over to the worst of humanity for all time—and for us, that is too high a price for momentary tolerance.
Hey Tony, the Northern Virginia battle flag is the same as the one pictured, only sideways. It was also used as a Navy flag. Nice try, smart ass
The confederate flag doesn’t belong anywhere except under museum glass. This isn’t the confederacy, it’s the USA. And the people who are ‘proud of their confederate heritage’ are all too desperate to cull the shameful side of southern history. The confederate flag represents the confederate states. And the confederate states believed in OWNING PEOPLE. You don’t get to cling to the past with pride while editing out the atrocities that took place, and then call everyone else misguided.
Please (those not familiar with Richmond) do not equate the overwhelming majority of us that live here with love for our fellow man irregardless of race, religion and sexual orientation, with these few hate-filled, living in the past racist fascist pigs.
So glad I moved to Northern Virginia.
The roman cross may have been a symbol of oppression at one point but having
Jesus martyred on it meant a lot to a lot
Of people. The confederate flag didn’t give rise to empowerment of any such
Religious leader and thus serves only
As a reminder of our prior misjudgments in regards to social reform. Displaying the flag prominently regresses us to a
State of idiocy.
Tim Murphy of Mother Jones said it best: ” The Confederate States of America was a dysfunctional coalition of 11 states formed in 1861 around a unifying principle of white supremacy. Member states initiated a four-year-long armed conflict against the Union that resulted in 600,000 deaths. Post-Civil War, the Confederate battle flag was a largely dormant symbol of the Old South until the 1950s, when opponents of federal action against racial segregation adopted it once again—sometimes in places, such as Kentucky, that had remained under Union control throughout the war.”
I struggle to see the big deal ? Would all this stink be made over a black panthers flag ? I think not my friends. People are always trying to pin that flag with hate and racism when in fact those looking to do so are the racist ones stuck in the past.
Tony, the article says “battle flag”…..the Virginia Flaggers did not.
Are we really still doing things like this? We have a state flag and the American flag to show proudly.
The only flag that should be flown independently on a pole in this nation is the American flag. This is disrespectful to living Americans and to the memory of those who fought for this country in all wars subsequent to the civil war. Symbols of heritage are not meant to be flown prominently on a pole.
I’m actually glad to see that we are so willing to talk about this in the comments. Ignoring it or not acknowleding that it’s controversial would be far worse. I am all for free speech, but also think this reflects pretty poorly on our city, because of *everyone else’s* perceptions, not necessarily our own. Also, my favorite comment out of all of yours is the idea to put a rainbow flag up right next to it. Someone please get on that.
This flag stands for nothing. Stubborness and intransigence.
To me, the flag represents the Confederacy — an armed insurrection against the United States of America. I’m grateful to our military for defeating the rebellion, and I think these “flaggers” should be too. They should be putting an American flag on that pole — not the flag of some group that was beaten by the U.S. Army.
Not sure what there is to be embarrassed about or why anybody care what Mother Jones thinks of us. The only thing that embarrasses me are some of the comments in this discussion.
Spread the word. Invite your friends.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Richmonders-against-the-Confederate-Flag-on-I-95/211669652324966?ref=hl
It is a symbol of southern history! It represents a respect for our ancestors who fought in the Civil War. It doesn’t mean we hate anyone! Everyone is entitled to fly their own ancestor’s flag in remembrance!
There are three primary aspects to this notion.
1- Why the flag was raised according to the erectors.
2- This is a social phenomenon of a DEFAULT- within context of what people are exposed to via human senses without choice- the by-passers will not look at this by choice, or will look at this without making a choice, or may not even recognize it. If they don’t see it, it’s not due to a personal choice. If they do see it, it’s not due to a personal choice. And then there are the informed parties- those who only heard about it which is also not by choice.
3- A statistical description of how the next 100 or any number of people’s reaction and opinion on this.
*1- to address any concerns of constitutional disobedience, one can choose to or not choose to understand the symbolism according to the erectors of the flag
*2- The erectors and supporters of this flag encourage the idea of this DEFAULT- their actions will cause at least 1, of not 100,000 to see this flag without choice. That 1 person will be defaulted into a thought after seeing the flag. The thought or thought(s) will DEFAULT a person into taking one of the following three physical actions- take LEGAL actions to keep the flag up, take LEGAL actions to take the flag down, choose to take no action.
*3- A statistical description of every second of the informed determines the fate of the flag.
The same set of laws that let this take place, through those same set of laws this can this be undone though LEGAL signatures and LEGAL public protests, under the very same constitution that permitted/permits this.
It is LEGALLY up is because of some people’s opinion.
If it were to LEGALLY be removed, it will be due to people’s opinion.
As for me, I don’t like the way it makes me feel regardless of why it is up. I don’t even know what it means but it does not feel right. I do not have time to listen and try to understand what it means according to another person or care to know what it means period. And I don’t like being defaulted into processing thoughts (without choice) induced by other people; it’s like forcing people to think of something that they didn’t see coming. Imagine a society with way more people than now doing the same exact thing- forcing others into thinking about things that the uninformed didn’t see coming. Crazy people (whatever crazy means to the reader) can legally (or illegally) do this too- one can sneak up on a billboard on the highway and place an actual large imagine of a chunk of a man’s head blown off by a bullet. Legal or not, it forces others to see something that will make them feel good, or bad, or nothing. Everyone has the legal right to create these defaults (or can choose to create illegal defaults). And everyone can choose to not care for the actual meaning of things and take legal actions based on their own personal choice.
Best of luck to both sides. I will sign to take it down.
Everyone who drives through Richmond is going to think this city is trash. Which it is, but not for the reasons that flag implies.
IDIOTS!!! Is it not enough that the streets are lined with the confederate heroes? Way to dig your way back into the racist past you once represented. Way to go.
Folks who don’t like this should have thought about that long ago, when the push started to erase all artifacts of the Confederacy from the Southern landscape, and all memory of it from the American mind. Too late now.
Flaggers, you have a wonderful opportunity here.
If your group has the best interests of your fellow humans at heart and desires to fly a symbol of welcoming, step outside of yourselves and create something beautiful that will help bring people together to create a better and more honorable world; rather than perpetuate divisiveness and is an obstacle to embracing what truly matters. I am certain your courage would be heralded.
I offer a broader perspective – the city of Richmond is hundreds of years old, this land has been occupied by humans for thousands of years and has been supporting life in all its forms for millions of years. To brand Richmond with the representation of a brief moment of contention in that enormous time span as the defining emblem of the city and its residents is narrow thinking. There is much history, human and natural, on this beautiful land along the ancient James River that deserves our collective highest respect and is worthy of glorification.
Bluecoup.org
@carol, love your community spirit.
Nbc12 reports that the location is Chester, not Richmond.
What you are advocating, C.W. Roden, is nothing short of revisionist history, in an attempt to erase the past and replace it with a fiction. Many before you have attempted to redefine the Confederate cause as a fight for state’s rights, to retool that flag as a sign of “heritage not hate,” but the unavoidable truth for anyone willing to look at the issue without bias is that the Confederacy was fighting to keep human beings enslaved for their own monetary gain–it’s right there in many of the secession declarations–and that its landed gentry duped an entire populace into supporting that cause by virtue of the timeless human reaction to the “invader.” I have Confederate ancestors, but I choose not to celebrate exclusively their involvement in a misguided, treasonous military action, or reduce them to nothing more than a symbol for some Great Old South that never was, but rather who they were as people outside the war. There’s a reason you don’t see reasonable Germans donning their grandfathers’ SS regalia, or people walking through Capetown with attack dogs and apartheid-era uniforms. Subsequent generations in those nations have honestly admitted the mistakes of their ancestors, moved forward, and attempted some level of atonement. I have given up hope of ever seeing that level of grace and maturity in the American South, but I’d settle for some common decency, in understanding that whatever rose-colored view you have of that flag, to African Americans it will always represent the ENSLAVEMENT, TORTURE, and DEGRADATION of THEIR ancestors. Richmond has lagged behind the rest of the country for far too long, from desegregation to smoking in restaurants, and associating our city with that flag would be another huge step backward.
BFD! So let those cretins fly the Confederate (battle) flag! The Confederacy was about the dumbest thing the South ever did to itself, and poor Va. was dumb enough to finally go along with what those inbred idiots in South Carolina had done!
The Confederacy was substantially if not mostly about preserving slavery (see Confederate Constitution, Art. I, Section 9, Para. 4). And many Southern males were scared to death that freed black males would be the preferred sexual partners of white Southern women, a major motivation for many Southern white “grunts” enduring hunger, deprivations, freezing cold winters without boots and long marches in wool uniforms in summer. How could some possibly embrace esoteric concepts like “states’ rights” when they likely could not even spell it?
There was NOTHING noble or honorable about the Confederacy. It’s an enduring shame for the South, and it is a shame that some of those intellectually challenged who remain in the South can’t get over it!
H. Watkins Ellerson
PO Box 90
Hadensville, VA 23067
(descendant of Confederate veterans and slaveowners)
I don’t understand why this should be embarrassing to the city as a whole.
1. I can see why having been the capital city of the Confederacy is embarrassing, but that’s common knowledge. Not raising a flag won’t change that. I’m not a fan of the CSA (a pox on both the US Government and its breakaway slaveocracy) but Richmond and the Confederacy will always be joined, whether or not that’s convenient for the 21st century. Too bad.
2. I live in a high-density urban area shoulder to shoulder with lots of people of whom I disapprove or would disapprove. So what? That doesn’t make me think less of the particular urban area where I live. People expressing themselves is what urban living is all about, and it’s pathetically illiberal to think that anybody who’s opinion is worth caring about would judge an entire city based on what a fraction of its residents are doing.
3. Stop focusing on symbols of oppression when actual oppression gets so little above-the-fold attention, like Richmond’s racist school system and a jail that puts people accused of crimes in mortal danger during the summer. Hell, a city that tries to destroy its own nasty history by turning slave burial grounds into parking lots and erecting stadiums where vital historical events occurred perhaps OUGHT to get a little unpleasant reminder of the past.
Exactly, precisely wrong. It’s even more important that hate speech be protected, so that hate gets noticed and addressed instead of ignored and sublimated. Shutting people up doesn’t prevent them from hating, but letting them hear themselves goes a long way towards helping them self-correct.
Frankly, I’m embarrassed that so many U.S. flags fly in Richmond. Do Richmonders require a recitation of the crimes the U.S. Government has committed under that flag, or what that flag symbolizes to billions in the world? It’s not like slaves were never held under that flag, after all–the institution of slavery is built into our Constitution, as a matter of fact.
The Confederacy happened. It’s part of who we are, just like the U.S. empire is part of our fabric. Dealing with it instead of hiding it is how we become better. But I suppose a city so permeated with a marketing and advertising industry would focus on branding rather than substance.
Ever since Birth Of A Nation, the Confederate flag has stood for white supremacy whether your grandad fought honorably or not. If they really wanted to honor the best of Southern culture, they would fly a pimento cheese flag.
Most of you need to learn to read. The Germans and Japanese do honor their soldiers there are several shrines and monuments. The Japanese do reenact German can and do but cannot display the swastika. Since apparently you can tell who can have a heritage and who can’t you do know there is a strong petition to remove the Viet Nam Memorial and the Alamo they strongly offend some races. Us Cemetaries have bodies of soldiers from various countries and yearly their flags friend or foe are placed on their graves.
I understand the intention of the display is to honor fallen soldiers. But since the flag has become a simple of racism and hatred, wouldn’t it make sense to find another way to honor those soldiers? It would be the sensible thing to do.
The flag has become a symbol of hate because of people who DO NOT know the true history of our nation. We have become a nation of a bunch of cry babies and our country is seriously on the way down. Wonder how some real men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe or Robert Lee would feel about this. I got a feeling I know. God Bless the south. We will NEVER forget.
Would it be possible for an artist like Doug Dobey to design a welcoming billboard that represents ALL of Richmond? A collage perhaps? Yes, it would include the Confederate flag, because that is an undeniable part of our history, but it would also include other graphical elements, like our reconciliation statue, our American flag, our lovely river, our racial diversity, our eclectic architecture, and our rainbow flag. This mosaic billboard would show visitors that we Richmonders are not still fighting the war, but that we collaborate and compromise, and for the most part get along fairly well. So I challenge the two warring groups. Get together. Talk. Listen. Understand. Pool your ideas and your monies. And then design and erect a billboard we can ALL be proud of.
I’m from the north, but feel that you have the right to express your views can I help??
Charmin should adopt the confederate print so normal Americans can use it as toilet paper. It’ll be the most useful purpose that symbol has ever served.
Even elementary school students in Virginia Beach know this flag is null and void: http://gawker.com/5952285/tough-guy-pulls-gun-on-elementary-school-students-after-they-make-fun-of-his-confederate-flag
Also, this one. A known white supremacist who “marches” with the Virginia Flaggers. http://ladylibertyslamp.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/terrorist-youth-network-is-now-promoting-lynching/
These folks aren’t very bright. 15’ x 15’ is a square. Say it with me……square. When you have something that looks like a square, but actually isn’t because two sides are longer than the other two, that’s called a rectangle. Lets say it together, rectangle. Rect. tang. gle. You’re welcome.
I propose a rainbow flag right next door.
Jason, actually the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee was a square. So if their intention was flying the Confederate Battle Flag then they have achieved that by flying the square. It’s technically more historically accurate than flying a rectangle. I am not justifying what they are doing by any means, but you’re wrong in saying they aren’t bright for flying a square…nice job making yourself look stupid Jason.
Someone please get the ‘I’m With Stupid’ kickstarter going!
EXCELLENT! Nothing says “we lost” like a TN Battle Flag flying in VA! Hah!
Idiots, might as well be flying a swastika.
In hard economic times, what a city needs is to display a flag, on it’s main transportation artery, that offends a large portion of the tourist using said road, right? Wonder how many people that are a part of raising the flag in Richmond actually live and pay taxes in Richmond? SMH
Want to welcome visitors to Richmond with a giant flag? Welcome them with the flag of Richmond, Virginia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Richmond,_Virginia
200 years from now I wonder if our ancestors will look back and say ” they were evil, look at the way they burned fossil fuels and depended on cars, and the wars and pollution that resulted “.
The Civil War was not directly about slavery, it was about the conflict between industrialization and agriculture. The north industrialized at an accelerated rate relative to the south, which was fundamentally agricultural, and the taxes and levies were unfair, unsustainable, and unbalanced as a result. This is why the south succeeded, not because they wanted to maintain a slave state, but because they had to for want of a better alternative.
With that said, the marketing surrounding the war effort had to simplify the economic reasons for the war for generations to come, as well as the generations that fought the war itself, so the slave issue became the focus. It was at the heart of the economic imbalance anyway, and was/is emotionally and morally charged enough to achieve a lasting signifigance. As such, the flags of the confederacy no longer represent an agrarian society that was morally traditional and economically oppressed by the north, it represents bigotry, hatred, ignorance, and fear. As it must.
I, for one, am glad that they are trying to fly the flag in so public a venue. It will bring the discussion to the foreground and expand upon one of the most relevant dialogues in the American landscape, that all men are created equal, and burdens of that truth. We all experience this in our daily lives, weather as a 1%er or as an unemployed welfare recipient.
In the end, the flag will be removed, for it is, to the public understanding, vulgar.
The victor writes history, and the confederate flag is the symbol of the oppression and shame that was slavery in the south, not only to the slave, but to the slave owner. And our present generation will have explored these ideas once again, and with luck, learned a little from them.
Well let’s see what happens to our tourism dollars after this flag is flying. Then we can call this group the Virginia Flaggers for a Flegdling Economy. Maybe then they will realize they are missing the point. It’s as if someone was a betwetter a long time ago, and decided to broadcast it to the world. I am all for free speech, but no one really wants see a flag commemorating that. To pay homage to the confederacy, why not a flag that represents something positive that happened, like a flag of a tobacco plant. Well then, that doesn’t really work either. Hmmm…what else is positive they could put on the flag? Music, yes that might actually work. Or southern cooking, like Paula Dean does…oooh wait, that doesn’t work either. Dang!!
These people are not real Americans. They do not fight for the constitution. They do not support our military. They are as bad as terrorists themselves. You do not get to live and breathe in the union and fly the flag of the separatists. To fly this flag is just short of treasonous. To defend this flag and not the 13 stripes is to be Anti American. Ancestors or not, if you are an American, the only flag you need to worry about is the current one. When will everyone wake up and realize that before the hate and racism comes the fact that these people wanted to destroy the US as we know it. They killed men who supported this country. If it wasn’t for men like James Buchanan,l you would have paid dearly in reconstruction. This kind of BS behavior is nothing more than a product of getting away with treason.
Yet another reason this born and raised Richmonder needs to leave Virginia for good.
I’ve never seen such a proud group of losers. GET OVER YOU LOST. Southern Heritage my ass.
Isn’t it funny that the stuff we want to happen to the city never happens (or happens very slowly) and the things we don’t want to happen take place within a few months?
How long has that baseball stadium plan dragged on again?
Shouldn’t it be a white flag since they surrendered?
If this were a good idea, would it have caused so much controversy?
Are these guys by chance related to the wahoos in Westboro Baptist Church?
Jesus AB, take a breath. It’s a flag, not the goddamn World Trade Center. When are you guys gonna realize nobody (except yourselves) gives a rat’s ass about this. The more energy you put into this, the more power you give these people.
This group, without permission, assembled on the steps of the Capitol. When they began to sing and draw attention to themselves, they were forced to leave. By publishing the picture, and initiating all the comments, they have gotten what they craved the most – attention.
Some people take great pride in getting their ass kicked by Yankees. I should bring this idea to Germany. We also have a flag that stands for oppression. We should fly it…..line up some loser general statues along Berlin avenues…..re-enact the battles every weekend……..tour the battle fields…. make loads of money…….deny any atrocities……drink beer and be proud of our heritage!
aw, bless their lil hearts, ain’t they proud.
Thats AWESOME! I need something to shoot at while I’m driving down 95! My trigger finger gets mighty itchy on those long highway runs I can’t wait to put a 45ACP holes all over that thing.
I heard the Duke boys are gona jump the flag in the General lee with Yosemite Sam strapped to the hood six shooters a blazin!
The stars are not laid out properly in the blue bars. They’re supposed to be spaced evenly, not empty space, cluster of three stars, small space, one star. Idiots don’t even know how to be good racists!
There are a considerable number of people in Richmond with German ancestory. Should we also hang a nazi flag next to the confederate flag? There are lots of ways to show pride for your history. This is not one of them.
With all of the deep divisions in this country, these proud southern rednecks want to divide us more. Thanks for letting everyone traveling on I-95 know what a backwater, inbred, racist, hillbilly state Virginia has become.
I’m all for the right to freedom of speech and the memoralizaiton of history, but understand that same first amendment right allows people to critique.
I automatically assume the southern U.S. citizens are just trolling the world population at epic proportions by holding the culture of the American South during that period of time in high esteem. Especially with the constant use of terms “honorable”, “noble”, and “polite” to describe the culture. If anything, whenever you show this flag you remind everyone of the barbarism that was the life of the American slave and the lengths a good portion of society was willing to go (read: “treason”) to maintain an economic and culutral system based on the continuance of slavery.
Symbols will always hold certain meanings for different groups. That’s fine. If you can perform the mental gymnastics needed to claim the confederacy as something to be proud of go ahead. Just know that logical, loving hearts and minds simply think otherwise.
Until the American South holds the symbols of the confederacy in the same or worse light as Germans hold Nazi symbols no one will believe you don’t support the systematic oppression of people.
Basically, “B*tches be tacky”… But if the money follows, I understand, no condone but understand
Read the first-person accounts in Ed Ayers’ book In The Presence of Mine Enemies. (If you can read, that is). Legislators state in writing to local leaders around the state that in order to get poor, non-slave holding farmers to take up arms in the conflict that recruiters need to emphasize individual rights and states’ rights, not the real reason of preserving the right to own other human beings as property. I am sick to death of a bunch of ignorant, racist, white trash trying to twist the reason that their poor white trash ancestors tried to dissolve our great nation. Thank God the American troops prevailed. Thank God. Now let me go unfurl my bright new Anerican Flag in front of my house in celebration of my ancestors who captained the Godspeed to Jamestown, served in the House of Burgesses, fought as officers in the Revolutionary War, and continue to serve honorably in the US Armed Forces. I might even sing a few bars of I’m Proud to be an American!! Those of you who continue to wrap yourselves in that confederate rag can just go back to your trailers.
Do these people feel so threatened by the extreme liberal influence Richmond has taken up to that they need to fly this flag off the interstate? This hideous ass flag shouldn’t be displayed off the interstate of Richmond. Like others said, it’s just a turn off, especially considering that I95 is a highly traveled interstate. Nobody is going to drive by this and say “Hey, let’s go to Richmond I want to explore”. They are going to say “Oh, it’s another place full of hicks and white trash” and keep driving. Everyone who knows basic 6th grade History knows that Virginia is an extremely historical place. That’s what the Museums and Battle Field Parks are for, not off the Interstate in state’s capital where travelers from all up and down the east coast will drive by. Also, anyone with a brain knows that this is the Battle Flag of Tennessee, meaning the purpose of this is beyond stupid as well as holding no significant values.
I wish these lovers of the South were better acquainted with literature than they seem to be. The following poem is the best argument for why we today should not display any Confederate flag, no matter how proud you may be of your background or ancestors, because the people who lived through the War realized that it should be put away. Respect the ancestors. Stop this nonsense.
The Conquered Banner, by Abram Joseph Ryan, 1865
Furl that Banner, for ’tis weary;
Round its staff ’tis drooping dreary;
Furl it, fold it, it is best;
For there’s not a man to wave it,
And there’s not a sword to save it,
And there’s no one left to lave it;
In the blood that heroes gave it;
And its foes now scorn and brave it;
Furl it, hide it–let it rest!
Take that banner down! ’tis tattered;
Broken is its shaft and shattered;
And the valiant hosts are scattered;
Over whom it floated high.
Oh! ’tis hard for us to fold it;
Hard to think there’s none to hold it;
Hard that those who once unrolled it;
Now must furl it with a sigh.
Furl that banner! furl it sadly!
Once ten thousands hailed it gladly.
And ten thousands wildly, madly,
Swore it should forever wave;
Swore that foeman’s sword should never
Hearts like theirs entwined dissever,
Till that flag should float forever
O’er their freedom or their grave!
Furl it! for the hands that grasped it,
And the hearts that fondly clasped it,
Cold and dead are lying low;
And that Banner–it is trailing!
While around it sounds the wailing
Of its people in their woe.
For, though conquered, they adore it!
Love the cold, dead hands that bore it!
Weep for those who fell before it!
Pardon those who trailed and tore it!
But, oh! wildly they deplored it!
Now who furl and fold it so.
Furl that Banner! True, ’tis gory,
Yet ’tis wreathed around with glory,
And ’twill live in song and story,
Though its folds are in the dust;
For its fame on brightest pages,
Penned by poets and by sages,
Shall go sounding down the ages–
Furl its folds though now we must.
Furl that banner, softly, slowly!
Treat it gently–it is holy–
For it droops above the dead.
Touch it not–unfold it never,
Let it droop there, furled forever,
For its people’s hopes are dead!
So, isn’t it illegal in the US to fly a flag higher than the American flag? Someone should just erect a small flagpole, with a small American flag next to this confederate monstrosity. Then it would have to fly lower than the little American flag.
For crying out loud! When will these folks realize that the Confederacy is a scar like Nazi Germany. It is a source of SHAME that our ancestors built an economy and society based in oppression and racism. Those of us born in Virginia need to face it, condemn it and find strategies to heal it. This is not the way!
Ignore idiots and trust that others will see that they are idiots and they are a minority in Richmond. The alternative is that you end up deep in a conversation with a bunch of idiots.
A part of me has died inside a little.
As a 50 year resident of northern Virginia, flying the flag is a proud moment for me and for American history. Only the American left and their cronies in academia/media fear this flag. Real Americans do not.
D. Hinsen, no one fears the flag. But a symbol of ignorance and hate will only beget more hate. A 50 ft flag pole simply isn’t high enough to prevent the use of drones, projectiles, and other techniques however illegal, in expressing contempt thereto. So the flaggers should be prepared for the forthcoming backlash of contemporary RVA.
Did these yahoos have a permit to block the steps of the capital??? If not why were they not abused and hauled off to sit for 6 hours on hot buses with no bathroom breaks as the people who sat on the steps to bring attention to state’s attempt to take away women’s reproductive rights?
Let’s just beat them at their own game. buy the land right next to this flag and erect a 300 foot wide American Flag. no one will even see the speck of a Confederate flag underneath.
Is that rag made out of Nomex? It should be; confederate endeavors have a tendency to spontaneously combust in Richmond.
The south ain’t gonna’ rise again; you hicks can’t even grow cotton without assistance.
That is the most stupid flag in the world!! Everyone talks about southern pride and all that bull shit. It is a symbol of hate if you ask me. I have yet to meet anyone who wears a confederate flag on a shirt or hat be able to tell me any good thing these sorry as confederates ever stood for. I was raised in the south but I never thought of this stupid ass hate flag as my heritage. The only thing this flag is for is for racist ass red necks to hide behind it to hate anyone who is not white and from the south. I am pretty sure my fellow AMERICANS will make sure one way or another that that stupid, racist, dumb flag comes down!!
LOL. A large number of US Army posts are named after Confederate generals, Fort Polk, Fort Bragg, Fort Lee, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, Fort A. P. Hill, etc.
I, a resident of a border state where that flag occasionally flies, just spent a week in Richmond at a history seminar giving a balanced vide of Richmond.
I see that flag as a NATIONAL symbol of the lingering racism, sexism and general intolerance that is flagrantly alive in our obstructive members of Congress. Residents of Richmond, we who visit do not judge you by a flying flag that represents a mean element
In our entire country. to those who wave that flag, I say, “Old white guys, your sun is setting but not fast enough.”
freedom of speech only for views i agree with. People who try to control others freedom of speech are more contemptible to me than flying the confederate flag.
We all know the South lost the war but if the country today is the winner, Il be a proud loser anytime. Infrastructure is deteriorating, National Parks may close.We have a real idiot in the Black House and we now have THE ETERNAL STAIN in washington. I say give em more guns, more ammo, and a doorag with their choice of color,either red for bloods and blue for cripts. Sit back and watch the hispanics kick all of their asses because they are not too lazy to fight or WORK If you guilt ridden liberals think by sucking up will get you spared in the end, you’ll be the first to be exterminated. Please respond
Well, thanks J.C. for proving the point that many here have been making about that flag being a symbol of racism and hatred. You seem to be the perfect example. Richmond is so much better than the anger and hate you spew.
J.C. and Bronwyn, you have just proved that there is bigotry on both sides of this issue. While not as virulent as right wing racism, progressive bigotry is far more pervasive and may be more damaging to minorities and the country as a whole.
I am no progressive, but I perceive flying of the the confederate flag in general (and the Chester flag specifically) to be racist.
That flag belongs in a museum. The southern perspective on the Civil War is an important part of history and should never be forgotten, but I question the judgement of people who continue to root for the south …fly its colors … and talk about “Northerners/Yankees” as if they are still the enemy.
If you want to honor the memory of your grandpappy, fine. But don’t wave a racist and divisive flag to “get your point across.” Nobody hates you UNTIL you wave that flag.
This flag will be a fantastic traffic controller. I mean, if everyone stops thinking of Richmond as a place full of morons and racists and realizes how cool it is then they’ll all start moving here and we’ll all be stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get to Lamplighter or Sugar Shack.
ATTN WORLD: Richmond sucks. Go clog up DC or Chicago.
These guys got the attention they were looking for. The flag itself will probably get a yawn from most passers-by, if they even notice it. It’s behind trees. I pass by these flags pretty frequently in Hanover and don’t think much of it. I’m not sure what they think is being “dishonored” but if this makes them feel better then let them have their fun and go about your business. The attention this has received just isn’t justified.
There is a lot of ignorance and preconceived judgment surrounding this issue. This flag honors the HEROES who valiantly died protecting their African American houseguests from the depredations of an invading horde of Yankees bent on subjugation!
http://vaflaggers.blogspot.com/2014/05/i-95-memorial-confederate-battle-flag-2.html
“Lest we Forget” Absolutely right. Don’t forget you lost.
Yes.. the Confederates loss.. Just like the US loss the Vietnam war but we still honor those soldier don’t we now?? Look it up.. Congress said the Confederate Soldier is an American Soldier. God Bless the Virginia Flaggers and God Bless the South.
Why such devotion to a flag that obviously stirs up controversy? As a HUGE Civil War fan, why not focus the flag attention on Civil War preservation of actual significant historic sites. What better way to celebrate the 150th than by helping to clean up sacred ground.
Speaking of sacred ground, who would have thought the Confederate Flaggers and the opponents of the Shockoe Baseball project had so much in common? At a basic level, they both just want to make sure their ancestors are honored appropriately. Not everyone agrees with how they do about it, but it may be that’s okay too.
It had to happen. We have had for years the Liberals making efforts across our country spreading lies about the Confederacy and what the war was about. I am talking about The War to Stop the South From Gaining Independence, the one where the Lincoln sent federal troops down South to rape civilian women, burn the family homes, loot their valuables, destroy their farms, steal their livestock and murder and maim civilians as well as to burn down the Southern towns and cities. SO, maby that’s why we will raise some big ass flags, and to the morons who tell us what version of Confederate flags we should install P off, we will do this just fine with out any advice from any of you goof balls.
It is amazing to me to believe that people really do not know their history. The Civil war was a terrible thing. Men from both sides died for what the believed in. We live in a great country because men who believed in their cause gave us this right. The Flag is a symbol of Southern Heritage. If you can not understand that than you have no right to criticize the right to raise the flag. The Confederate flag was not about hate, it was about the South fighting for its independence. Richmond Virginia was the Capital of The Confederacy and the majority of the fighting took place here. So we should honor those men who died for the Southern cause.