Modern display of the Confederate flag

The display of flags used by and associated with the Confederate States of America (1861–1865) has continued, with a long interruption, into the present day, with the "Southern cross" used in the battle flag of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia gaining the most popular recognition as a modern symbol of the Confederacy, and by extension, of the white component of the Southern United States in general. Such displays have been made for a variety of reasons, with Southern culture, states' rights, and historical commemoration among the stated reasons for particular uses. Displaying the flag has long been controversial in the United States, due to the flag's historical associations with treason, racism, slavery, segregation, and white supremacy.

Despite the common belief that "the Confederate flag" has remained in uninterrupted use since the end of the Civil War, its use was mostly limited to historical movies, like Gone with the Wind. Its revival in the 1950's and 1960's was to show opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, starting with Senator Strom Thurman's Dixiecrats in 1948. Racism played a major role in its new popularity.

The Confederate States of America used three national flags during the American Civil War. The latter two incorporated the "Southern cross" canton that was widely recognized as a symbol of the Confederacy by 1863.

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