Furled But Not Forgotten



When Confederate armies furled their flags at Appomattox and other surrender sites and when the Confederate government struck the national colors, this could have spelled the end of the Confederate flag’s history as a living symbol.

What would the history of the Confederate flag be like if it had been furled once and for all in 1865?

Image: Furling of the Flag (1872)
Richard Norris Brooke’s melodramatic scene of Confederate soldiers weeping over a flag being rolled up for the last time captured the grief that Confederate soldiers felt when they turned over their battle flags at Appomattox.
West Point Museum Art Collection, United States Military Academy