No. 1. The “Stars and Bars,” the first “National Flag.”

No. 2. The “Battle Flag.”

No. 3. In 1863 replaced No. 1 as the “National Flag.”

No. 4. In 1865 replaced No. 3 as the “National Flag.”

No. 5. “The Bonnie Blue Flag.”

No. 1. The “Stars and Bars” was the first National Flag of the Confederate States of America. It was adopted by the Confederate Congress, and raised at sunrise over the Confederate Capitol at Montgomery, Alabama, March 4th, 1861, where the Provisional Congress was holding its first session. At the time of its adoption, it was ordered that a star be added to the flag for each new state joining the Confederacy. This flag is used as the emblem of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

No. 2. The “Battle Flag” was designed after the first Battle of Manassas, and afterward was adopted by the Confederate Congress. The reason for its adoption was that, in battle, the “Stars and Bars” was frequently mistaken for the “Stars and Stripes”. It remained the Battle Flag until the close of the war. This flag was the insignia of the United Confederate Veterans, and is now the insignia of the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

No. 3. To prevent further confusion arising from the mistaking of the “Stars and Bars” for the “Stars and Stripes”, the Confederate Congress on May 1, 1863, adopted a new National Flag. This flag is used as the emblem of the Children of the Confederacy, and is well worth remembering for its use on Stonewall Jackson’s casket.

No. 4. On March 4, 1865, the Confederate Congress again changed the design of the National Flag. This new design was adopted because the second National Flag, when hanging limp, looked too much like a flag of truce. For a time this flag was used as the insignia for the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

No. 5. Before the “Stars and Bars” had been designed and adopted by the Confederate Congress, a beautiful blue silk flag bearing a single star, presented at the open meeting of the Mississippi Secession Convention in the State Capitol at Jackson, Mississippi, January 9, 1861, was the inspiration for the new Republic’s first Battle Song—“The Bonnie Blue Flag”. The Irish comedian, Harry McCarthy, filling an engagement at the Jackson theatre at that time, was a witness to the thrilling scene following the adoption of the Ordinance of Secession, and penned the original verses of The Bonnie Blue Flag as an expression of his aroused emotion. He sang the song that night to a loudly applauding audience overflowing the theatre.