[Bobcat]

fsstnotch ... dead on . The "Confederate " flag came into being after the first Manassas battle because of mass confusion of who was who since the flags of the North and South were similar and in battle , couldn`t be told apart . The flag , to be specific , was the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia ( yes , I`m from VA ) and to the best of my knowledge never flew over any Southern city or government building . In fact , SC had over 200 different flags used during the war ( I live in SC now ) .
As Ron61 points out , this is a perfect example of some groups taking a flag that never flew over any slave ships etc ( battle flag ) and making it a symbol of their hatred . Ron`s example of the Swastika is perfect . That is a very old religious symbol from Okinawa and is also the symbol of Shorin Ryu Karate . If interested , look up the history of that symbol as it is VERY interesting .... and honorable .
What I do find numerous , is that the NAACP is focusing on the " Confederate " flag and assuming that banning it will solve all their social issues . To me , this is just their way to divert attention from their real problems and keep their jobs .

Bob