Second National Flag of the Confederacy (1863-1865)

Throughout the spring of 1863, the Confederate Congress debated the design for a new national flag for the Confederacy. On May 1, the last day of the session, both houses agreed to a flag consisting of a white field, with a length twice as long as its width, and a square Confederate Battle Flag two-thirds the width of the field to be used as a canton (or union) in the upper left.

Despite the official dimensions provided in the Flag Act of 1863 (see photo), many copies were made shorter to achieve a more traditional appearance and to prevent the white flag from being mistaken for a flag of truce.

The Second National Flag was widely known as the "Stainless Banner." Because the first issue of this flag draped the coffin of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, it was also known as the "Jackson Flag."

Computer generated flag image and text from Edwin L. Jackson, Flags That Have Flown Over Georgia (Atlanta: Secretary of State, 1995). © Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

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