Hello Katie,

Please re-read my original post, it is as it was in 1861, your interpretation of the meaning of a flag, as other’s is what make’s vexillology a interesting subject.

Happy Trails! Yo Ho!

Tom Martin

[The colors and designs of a flag have no meaning other than the one we give it. The designs of flags often reflect cultural traditions. Flags express our dreams and our nightmares, from the American flag to those of the Confederacy to the German swastika to the colors that gangs wear to differentiate themselves. People thirst for a symbol of their group’s or national inner values and to percent a message of solidarity to the outside world. Flags and it’s colors and design’s relay those values.

On both, the Confederate National and the U.S. National flag, the number of stars represent the number of States within that union and / or confederacy. On the U.S. Flag the thirteen Stripes represents the original 13 States of the union. No one star represents a State within that union or confederacy, it's just the total number of States within. The colors of the flags have no official meaning, however some 18th century & 19th century poets have written many verses on the meaning’s for the colors for both national flags.

In general, in the world of vexillology, colors can have political meanings or convey other diverse messages. Some colors of flags are based on traditions that go back thousands of years, while others are of comparatively recent conventional symbolism. Red: for danger, warning, stop, war, martial law, no quarter, revolution, protest, etc.. Orange: Buddhism, Hinduism, distress, etc.. Yellow: quarantine, sickness, caution, etc.. Green: Islam, safety, proceed, etc.. White: peace, truce, parley, surrender, etc.. Black: death, mourning, protest, anarchy, etc..

There are several theories on the choice of the colors used for the U. S. flag. Flags in Europe at the time of the founding of this country, the major colors where red, white & blue or a variant of those color patterns. Henry Moeller has done a study on the use of colors for the U. S. flag and has a book out called “Unfurling the History of the Stars & Stripes” or you may want to look into Whitney Smith’s book “The Flag Book of the United States” and then too, Milo Milton Quaife’s book “The Flag of the United States” . Since the Confederate States of America copied many of the idea’s and laws of the United States many of those theories found in the above books may shed some light for you in regards to the Confederate National flag as to the meaning of the symbolism.]