Does anyone know the official origins of the confederate flag? I don't want to completely throw something out the window till I know exactly how and what came about. Not going to go on a different tangent here, but due to a certain former world power a lot of symbols have had their meanings misconstrued. Again, the people I know (personally) who wave around confederate flags are "white power" types.

Unlike the Confederate flag, this (the KKK insignia) is most definitely an insult that denotes bigotry. The two symbols aren't necessarily related.

http://blog.n-two.jp/images/KKK-symbol.gif

I don't know there pretty close to one in the same to me, considering what the Confederates stood for and PRIMARILY fought for (slavery).


Also fun fact is that the British were actually in favor of the Confederates winning the Civil War.

Haha, in fact most of the Americans that I've met over the years have come from all over the USA, but the southerners that I've met tended to be the warmest and friendliest of them all.

I actually saw a documentary several years ago about the KKK and it stated that membership was actually at its highest in some of the northern states which surprised me, Michigan or a similiar state seems to ring a bell as actually having a high membership in the USA but I could be mistaken on which state it was.

Since there's no way for this issue to be fully explored here, I hope people will at least say a little bit about why they feel the way they do. That is, what makes you relate the entire Confederacy to the KKK so much?

Guess which flag was considered treason by the British :)

I always thought the war was about self determination of the slave states and slavery just happened to be one of the issues involved. I know a number of slave states actually stayed with the Union and other like Kentucky and Kansas etc were undecided.

Well, I guess the best I can provide is a comparison. Would you find it okay if an adult today was hanging this flag over his house:

http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/...y_swastika.svg

because his grandfather fought bravely in WWII and he wanted to honor his legacy? I think the American Civil War is very unique in that the Confederacy (the losing side) is celebrated almost as much as the Union. Just take a trip down south and you'll see all the monuments dedicated to the bravery of the South. Not something you'd find in Germany I'd imagine.

Out of interest, what do people think of John Brown, a domestic terrorist or a hero?

There's only one slave state that I'm aware of that stayed with Union, and the only reason it did so was because the federal government clamped down on it before it could secede.

Maryland or Delaware I'd guess!!!

Nah there were a couple, Kentucky, Delaware, and I think two more at least.