3rd National

This flag replaced the “2nd National” because the 2nd looked like a flag of surrender when the wind was not blowing. This flag was the last official act of the Confederate Congress.

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee,
Commander General,
United Confederate Veterans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1906.

"If the South should lose, it means that the history of the heroic struggle will be written by the enemy, that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."

-- Major General Patrick Cleburne