1st South Alliance - Stars & Bars Flag

The Confederacy's first official national flag, often called the Stars and Bars, flew from March 4, 1861, to May 1, 1863. It was designed by Nicola Marschall in Marion, Alabama.  The flag featured a circle of seven white stars in the navy-blue canton, representing the seven states of the South that originally composed the Confederacy: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The "Stars and Bars" flag was adopted on March 4, 1861, in the first temporary national capital of Montgomery, Alabama, and raised over the dome of that first Confederate capitol.

As the Confederacy grew, so did the numbers of stars: two were added for Virginia and Arkansas in May 1861, followed by two more representing Tennessee and North Carolina in July, and finally two more for Missouri and Kentucky even thou neither of these two states seceded.

When the American Civil War broke out, the flag confused the battlefield at the First Battle of Bull Run because of its similarity to the Union flag, especially when it was hanging limp on its flagstaff. Many Confederates disliked the Stars and Bars flag early on and by 1862 the Confederates were outraged that their was a resemblance to the Yankee Flag to that of the abolition despotism against which they were fighting.

There are 2 more flags that were designed for the Confederate Army. The 2nd Confederate flag also know as the Stainless Banner (1863-1865) and the 3rd Confederate Flag (1865) also know as the Blood-Stained Banner.

The 2nd and 3rd Confederate flag are no longer produced today as they have the Confederate flag (rebel flag) in the canton. Many see the Confederate flag as a sign of racism.