VERBENA, Ala. - A huge Confederate battle flag flying over Interstate 65 north of Montgomery will become a permanent fixture, according to officials with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The organization bought land on the side of the interstate near Verbena and put up the flag, which has been flying for several months above the tree lines from the top of a large pole, easily visible from the heavily traveled interstate.
Leonard Wilson, commander of the Alabama division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the flag will be dedicated in a ceremony at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 26. The flag is located on a little more than half an acre of land just north of where Autauga County 68 crosses over the interstate, about six miles south of the Verbena exit. The land was purchased last December by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, according to the deed on file in Autauga County.
"We put the flag up so people could see it," Wilson said. "We are showing off our heritage. The flag is part of our heritage."
Critics of Confederate flag displays say they are reminders of the slavery era and Alabama's racist past, and can damage Alabama's image when flown beside a busy interstate route to Gulf beaches.
Wilson said the Confederate heritage organization had been looking for some time for an appropriate place to fly the flag where it would get maximum exposure.
"I think anybody that sees it will give pause to reflect on history," Wilson said.
The flag is visible for some distance to cars traveling in both directions and some people have been seen stopping to take pictures. It's located along a section of the interstate known for extravagant displays, including a water tower shaped as a peach and a billboard with the message, "Go to Church or the Devil will get you!"
The presence of the giant flag, about the size of banners often seen flying over car dealerships, has upset Birmingham civil rights activist and radio talk show host Frank Matthews, who says he believes the flag violates the state law regulating the size and position of billboards along public highways.
Matthews said he plans to organize a protest and questions whether taxpayer money was spent to enhance the appearance of the flag, pointing to rocks that cover the hillside below the flagpole.
Tony Harris, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation, said the rocks were placed on the hillside in 2000 and 2001 as part of a project to control erosion and prevent parts of the hill from sliding into the southbound lanes of the interstate. He said the project was completed years before the Sons of Confederate Veterans purchased the property and had nothing to do with the flag.
Harris also said DOT officials have investigated the issue and believe the flag is not covered by laws and rules regulating billboards.
The flag is similar to a large Confederate banner flying on land owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans along I-75 in Florida. The national membership coordinator for the organization, Bryan Sharp, said it's important for the flag to be visible.
"We think it's very important for our organization to teach people what happened in our own backyard. They don't teach what happened in The War Between the States anymore," said Sharp from his office at the organization's national headquarters in Columbia, Tenn.
Sharp said he disagrees with critics who see the flag as a reminder of slavery.
"A lot of farm boys, who never had enough money to own a slave, went off to war. They were left with nothing. A lot of people have forgotten that. We have tried to bring awareness to the sacrifices those men made," Sharp said.
State Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, an outspoken critic of the Confederate flag flying from public buildings or on taxpayer owned property, said he's concerned the location of the flag along a main route from northern and midwestern states to Gulf Coast beaches will hurt the state's image.
"But legally I don't think there's anything we can do about it because it's on private property," said Holmes, who was once arrested along with other black legislators for trying to remove a Confederate flag that at the time flew from the dome of the state Capitol.
Holmes said he believes for many people the flag "represents slavery, racism and oppression" and urged the Sons of Confederate Veterans to take it down.
"Alabama already has a bad image and when people using that highway see that flag it will only legitimize what was already in their minds about Alabama."
It's time to put this to rest, move on, and quit hanging onto the past.
Apparently no one told them that multiculturalism applies only to liberals, gays and minorities.
I hope you Confederate groupies here are cheering the Iraqi factions' attempts to torpedo Iraq's peace.
After all they are fighting for their seperate homelands. According to some here, that's GREAT!!!
As long as my country flies the red, white, and blue and our boys in Iraq are dying for it I will not honor the flag of traitors.
Sorry I'm not FR-PC about this view. Real sorry.
bookmark.
People want multiculturalism and wear Che T's etc then people need to deal with all it's implications.
That's what happens when you lose the war.
Modern day copperheads and traitors decided to ship those flags back Souf' in the early 1960s in a gesture of reconciliation.
They were warned that should this be done, the Southerners would start flying giant Confederate flags all over the place.
I think it's time to reconsider the deal and get those flags back where they belong ~ in those display cases.
What everyone seems to forget is that the Confederate battle flag IS an American flag. It's just as American as the yellow "Don't tread on me" flag, and it has a history behind it that won't go away just because some people's sensibilities are flustered.
Whenever someone says that they don't want the Confederate flag flying over American soil remind them that it was Americans that lived and died under that flag.
Wow, now I'm a suspect because I don't kiss up to the FR-PC crowd.
My nephew could teach Lee a lesson about honor. He's about to deploy for his second rotation to Iraq flying C-130s. He thinks the Iraq War sucks (he uses stronger language) but he took an oath to the US of A and he will show up every day and do his best for his country.
I wish someone would do the same thing in my home state of Georgia. Slapping one of those along side of I-75 would be a pleasant reminder to the pundits and folks in Atlanta who thought it best to remove our 1956 flag from the referendum vote.
I have been that way on I-65 in Verbena. It is a really nice area for such a lovely piece of history.
Part of our history, just like this one.
This flag is on private property and the owners have the right to fly it. I'm not offended by this flag either. It's not a "hate" thing to me.
Let er fly proud!
"Critics of Confederate flag displays say they are reminders of the slavery era and Alabama's racist past, and can damage Alabama's image when flown beside a busy interstate route to Gulf beaches."
Blah, blah blah baloney.
Its a part of American history and most Confederate soldiers were neither slave-owners, nor fighting to preserve slavery, but fighting to protect their country from illegal invasion by anti-Constitutionalist forces.
There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent a state from seceeding.
Long live the Huge Confederate flag flying high over I-65.
Good pic.I might just drive up there to take a look.
There are so many posts on this thread I haven't been able to read them all, but I have noticed a few that are slamming the Confederacy and the Confederate battle flag. And I'm sure there are some who are yelling that the flag is a symbol of slavery and hate.
My ancestors fought under that flag. They did not own slaves, and they did not hate. When the war was over they returned to their homes and their farms and raised their families to love this country. It's a little-known fact that in 1875, when it looked like the United States might go to war with Spain over Cuba, former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, a renowned cavalry leader in the Civil War, contacted the War Department, offering to raise a division of cavalry to fight for the United States. General William T. Sherman, the army chief of staff and a former opponent of Forrest's, recommended that the army consider the offer in case there was war.
The point I am making is that honoring our ancestors who wore gray does not in any way diminish our love for the United States. My family has been represented in the military service of the United States in every war since the Civil War. Some have come home scarred, and some have not come home at all. We can honor our proud Confederate heritage and still love this country. If those of you who take great joy in bashing the Confederacy and the South have difficulty comprehending that, it's your problem, not mine.
Well at least it is a flag with American Heritage. Mexican flags around here. I feel it is a little anti-american to be flying foreign flags without any specific international reason, but to each his own.