The chief purpose of battle flags was to serve as rallying points amid the chaos of combat. For this purpose, unit flags were often more
important than the over-arching flag of the Confederacy. Perhaps for this reason, the flag of Lee's army, with its distinctive X-like St. Andrew's cross, is almost universally mistaken for the Confederate flag. The actual design of the first flag of the Confederacy was the "Stars and Bars," represented in four of the five designs in this section. The fifth flag represents an unusual variation on a later design: the "Stainless Banner."
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