Speaking of Symbolism...

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what this particular flag represents:

Give up? This, believe it or not, was the design for the very first "Secessionist Flag" flown in South Carolina in December 1860.

After the flag had been flown for a while and was under consideration for adoption as the National Flag of the Confederacy, a fellow named Charles Moise, a self-described "Southerner of Jewish persuasion", complained that "the symbol of a particular religion not be made the symbol of the nation."

Moishe was complaining, of course, not only about the crescent moon but also the cross. In an amazing-to-our-eyes concession, the flag committee removed the crescent moon and the palmetto, turned the cross from up and down to an "X" shape, and thus was born the Confederate Battle Flag that is causing so much distress in the Solid South:

Many people confuse the Battle Flag as being the National Flag of the Confederacy. Not true. The National Flag was the classic "Stars and Bars"

At the First Battle of Manassas, there was too much confusion on both sides since from a distance the confederate flag looked too much like the US flag, the "Stars and Stripes", which necessitated a different design for the battle flag.

So anyway, back to the point of all of this. If that first flag were being proposed today, the Religious Right would attack it for promoting Islam, Non-Christians would attack it for promoting Christianity, and poor little Charlie Moise, if he survived the attacks on him personally, would probably make a fortune hitting the talk-show circuit.

See more at Flags of the Confederate States