Free Republic

A few years ago I was a pretty regular poster to FR (under an old name, I changed names when I forgot my password.) I complained a few times that the flag used for Georgia profiles was the old GA flag that had the Confederate Battle flag in it. I was told that they had just not gotten around to changing it, or that they couldn't find a waving flag of the new version. Fine. I know changes take time. But now we sit here 3 years (and two flag changes) since the GA flag was changed, and FR still...

Black and white voters across Georgia finally have a flag they can agree on. The state's current banner, modeled after the first national flag of the Confederacy, won by a nearly 4-1 ratio Tuesday over its sole rival, a blue-and-gold banner that flew briefly over Georgia from 2001 until last year. "I had heard," said Christy Myrick, 35, of Atlanta, "that if [the current] flag is chosen there won't be any more discussion and it will be over, finally." That's the pitch top Georgia politicians and business leaders had made to voters in advertising and campaign calls in the days...

The first bit of campaign literature for next year's state flag referendum has been let out of the box. Finally. It's been lost for 125 years, and consists of a batch of state documents misfiled under "Mining" instead of "Military." The records were discovered in state archives last month and detail the origins of the first official Georgia flag, adopted in 1879. They include a striking pen-and-watercolor drawing that looks something like the new banner now being raised across the Georgia -- which will be one of two candidates in the March 2004 vote.

Flag wasn't the root of Barnes' fall Jay Bookman E-mail: jbookman@ajc.com It's fun to see a myth take shape, to watch as it emerges unformed from the early fog of facts and then be polished and sanded and finally cast in bronze, so that in time it seems as real and solid as a statue. Consider, for example, the myth of Roy Barnes and the Georgia flag. Make no mistake, the former governor fully deserved the Kennedy Profile in Courage Award he recently accepted at Harvard. His decision to engineer a change in the Georgia flag, despite the risk it...

Flag wasn't the root of Barnes' fall It's fun to see a myth take shape, to watch as it emerges unformed from the early fog of facts and then be polished and sanded and finally cast in bronze, so that in time it seems as real and solid as a statue. Consider, for example, the myth of Roy Barnes and the Georgia flag. Make no mistake, the former governor fully deserved the Kennedy Profile in Courage Award he recently accepted at Harvard. His decision to engineer a change in the Georgia flag, despite the risk it posed, was a true...

Perdue will vote for new flag Three months ago, I submitted a proposal to the General Assembly that would allow the people of Georgia to choose the flag that flies over our great state. My plan was simple, straightforward, and clear. I proposed a statewide referendum on the flag, and I did so after spending a year traveling around this state listening to the people of Georgia. I sincerely believed that we should give the people of Georgia the greatest number of choices, and then trust that they would make the best choice for our state. And I still believe...

Atlanta-AP -- The Georgia state flag, whose symbolism was initially meant to satisfy everyone, will be retired today after being flown for only two years. Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue plans to sign a bill to take down the controversial flag and replace it with a simpler design. When the 2001 flag was introduced it was considered a political masterstroke. It shrunk the Confederate battle cross and incorporated the symbol in a small montage of older Georgia flags.The flag was quickly voted the nation's ugliest by a group of flag experts. School children couldn't draw it. Around the state Capitol, it...

After flying for only two years, the blue state flag raised by former Gov. Roy Barnes probably will be hauled down this week. The idea for a referendum on the state flag belongs to his successor, Gov. Sonny Perdue. That vote comes in March. But the immediate removal of the Barnes flag -- in favor of one with a Confederate pedigree -- can be traced to former President Jimmy Carter. Key lawmakers say Carter, who is also a former Georgia governor, stood at the edges of negotiations throughout the three-month flag fight. Jimmy Carter worked to raise a new flag...

Georgia flag will not carry Dixie cross Friday, April 25, 2003 Posted: 10:30 PM EDT (0230 GMT) ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The Georgia Legislature voted Friday to change the state flag to a version that echoes the Confederate battle emblem, but without the familiar Dixie cross that had led black lawmakers to promise an economic boycott. Lawmakers agreed to quash any possibility of a referendum on reviving the Confederate battle emblem, which black lawmakers called a symbol of oppression and which had been a part of the bill. If the measure is approved by Gov. Sonny Perdue, Georgia voters next...

Gov. Sonny Perdue and a crucial House committee gave their approval Friday to a new Georgia flag that would be raised immediately -- and might fend off efforts to restore the Confederate battle emblem. The new flag, which would be the state's second in two years, lies at the heart of a compromise reached by white Republicans and Democrats on the governor's proposal for a statewide flag referendum. Perdue's bill was substantially altered by a racially split House Rules Committee, but with a key provision intact: A series of two statewide votes held next year would still offer the old...

Ga. Lawmakers Scrap Dixie Cross on Flag By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press Writer ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia lawmakers have voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag, potentially heading off an economic boycott by civil rights groups outraged by the Confederate emblem. With some black lawmakers cheering and others weeping, the Legislature voted Friday to replace the current flag with a new design, inspired by a Confederate national flag but lacking the well-known cross of stars. "This gives the people a flag based on history, but yet looking to the future," said Democratic Sen. George Hooks, a white...

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 4/26/03 ]Legislature approves new flag; no chance for vote on Confederate emblem The Associated Press     The Georgia Legislature approved a new state flag Friday and removed any chance that the Confederate battle emblem could be restored to the state banner. If approved by the governor, the new flag will echo a Confederate national flag, but without the familiar Dixie cross, which black lawmakers called a symbol of oppression. Next March, Georgia voters will choose between the temporary flag and the current Georgia flag. But there will never be a vote on the old state...

ATLANTA — The debate over Georgia's state flag has created a rift not only in the state's Democratic Party — lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the state legislature are hoping a technical impasse will get rid of the issue for good....

Rules committee approves flag bill By RHONDA COOK Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer The Senate Rules Committee today unanimously approved a new state flag and a pair of referendums asking voters what banner should represent Georgia. Although the approval was unanimous, only one of the five Democrats on the committee was there for the vote. Two did not attend at all, Sen. Peg Blitch (D-Homerville) and Sen. Nadine Thomas (D-Ellenwood), an African- American legislator who boycotted a previous hearing. Sens. Michael Meyer von Bremen of Albany and Rene Kemp of Hinesville walked out when the Republicans rejected an amendment to move...

I owe an apology to some people. I want to say I am sorry to all the minorities, descendants of slaves or anyone else who was hurt or offended by our old state flag, adopted in 1956, that contained the Confederate battle emblem. I did not take the fight seriously. When people started fighting for a change in the flag many years ago, I was on their side in the way I'm on the side of anyone who fights for equality. But I didn't care because I thought the fight did not concern me. I grew up around the offensive...

An uncivil war has erupted in the state Democratic Party over Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposed referendum on the state flag, a family feud that could be a boon for Republicans. Conservative white Democrats parted from black lawmakers on the high-profile state flag vote last week, splitting the black-white alliance that in recent decades has formed Democrats' power base in Georgia and other Southern states. "We asked a lot of our white Democratic colleagues if they could help us on the flag vote and they said, 'No, we've got to worry about the people back home,' " said state Rep. Barbara...

New Georgia Flag Won't Whistle Dixie ATLANTA, April 4, 2003 The proposed Georgia state flag (AP) The new design comes from an unlikely corner, Rep. Bobby Franklin, a conservative Republican. He was once a strong supporter of the Confederate battle emblem, but has changed his mind. The current Georgia state flag, adopted in 2001, sharply reduced the size of the Confederate emblem. (AP) After months of debating Georgia's flag, state lawmakers struck a surprise compromise Friday — an entirely new flag that echoes an old Confederate flag but does not include the divisive Dixie battle emblem.

When her father was elected governor, Leigh Perdue Brett marveled that her 4-year-old twins would someday read about their grandfather in history class. If Sonny Perdue does not show strong leadership on the Georgia flag, Sunni and Mary Kate might read that their granddad had been the most racially divisive governor of Georgia since Lester Maddox. The state's reputation, its economy and race relations hang in the balance of Perdue's decision on the flag. This square of fabric will determine whether Georgia is seen as a leader of the New South or a captive to the worst of the...

Former President Jimmy Carter, arguably the world's best-known peace negotiator, has agreed to try to help Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue soothe racial tension over a proposed referendum on the state flag. Details have not been worked out, but one possibility is a summit of community leaders and citizens at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Perdue said during a news conference Friday. "It could begin this conversation that I think we need to have to come together to heal," the governor said. Deanna Congileo, director of public information at the Carter Center, confirmed Friday afternoon that Carter, winner of the...