The confederate flag was reported to the police on Monday (18th January)

The Confederate Flag: not illegal but unacceptable

A confederate flag seen flying in a boat yard on Rock-a-Nore Road has been removed after residents contacted police and local councillors and took to social media to voice their concerns. Emma Harwood reports.

The flag – associated with US slavery and a widely recognised symbol of white supremacy – was reported to Sussex Police by a passer-by who saw it at Hastings Motorboat and Yacht Club (HMBYC) last Monday 18 January, which was also Martin Luther King Day, an annual commemoration of the civil rights activist’s life and work.

Police contacted the club to make it aware that the flag was causing offence but said no crime had been identified. By Wednesday the flag had been removed with HMBYC giving assurances it was not connected with their organisation but had been the “responsibility of an individual member.”

History of the flag and its contemporary context

The blue star-studded cross on a red square became an emblem for the Confederate States of America which fought to keep slavery during the American Civil War.  It was adopted by anti-civil rights groups and white supremacists such as the Ku Klux Klan which waged a war of terror against black people in the US during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 21st century it continues to be displayed as a symbol of hate and racism among neo-nazi and extremist groups around the world.

Also known as the ‘Dixie Flag’, and ‘Southern Cross’,  to some it signifies rebellion and pride in Southern heritage and has been displayed as such in popular culture.

Tom Petty regretted using the flag for his 1985 Southern Accents tour

But in 2012 Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd removed it from all merchandise and marketing material and Tom Petty –who displayed it briefly during a 1985 tour – later said he had been ‘downright stupid’ to do so. Warner Brothers halted production of The Dukes of Hazzard car ‘General Lee’ and other products which bore the motif in 2015.

Many country and rockabilly festivals in the UK now ask music fans not to display the ‘rebel’ flag due to its connection with extremists and hate groups.

In 2019, organisers of the UK’s largest roots and rock’n’roll festival Rhythm Riot told fans that displaying the flag in the past did not make them racists: “On today’s rockin’ scene some people still like to use this flag as a symbol for rockabilly or rock’n’roll. The difference is that today, we know that this same flag is being used by hate groups and by racists and extremists, often seen hung alongside Swastikas. We are not like those people. We do not want to be associated with those people.”

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