Articles · Memory & Controversy
More than a century after the war, the Confederate battle flag remained one of the most divisive symbols in American life—seen by some as a marker of southern heritage and by many others as an emblem of slavery and segregation.
The NAACP and allied organizations pressed for the removal of the flag from statehouses and public buildings across the South, arguing that a government banner should not honor a cause founded on slavery.
The controversy played out over decades in legislatures, courthouses, and the press, a reminder that the questions raised by the Civil War were never fully settled when the guns fell silent.
Later memory of the war still turns on how the conflict is told. The historical record behind those debates is set out on the American Civil War homepage.