Six Flags Over Texas will not remove Confederate flag

Six Flags Over Texas will not remove a Confederate flag its flown at the park since it opened in 1961. See where other Confederate icons are standing (or flying) in the Lone Star State. Six Flags Over Texas will not remove a Confederate flag its flown at the park since it opened in 1961. See where other Confederate icons are standing (or flying) in the Lone Star State. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Six Flags Over Texas will not remove Confederate flag 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Six Flags Over Texas has flown the Confederate States of America flag since the park opened in 1961, and that is not going to change despite growing pressure around the country following the violence in Charlottesville.

The "Stars and bars" was the first official flag of the confederacy. It flies alongside the American flag near the entrance to the park.

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The flag features seven stars representing the original Confederate States; South Carolina (Dec. 20, 1860), Mississippi (Jan. 9, 1861), Florida (Jan. 10,1861), Alabama (Jan. 11, 1861), Georgia (Jan. 19, 1861), Louisiana (Jan. 26, 1861), and Texas (Feb. 1, 1861), Sharon Parker, manager for communications, told Chron.com.

The company's logo and flags flown at the park have featured the flags and historical architecture from Spain (1519-1821), France (1685-1690), Mexico (1821-1836), Republic of Texas (1836-1845), Confederate States of America (1861-1865), and United States (1845-1861; 1865-present), Parker added.

"Six Flags Over Texas continues to fly the Confederate States of America Flag and does not fly or sell any variation of the Confederate Battle Flag," Parker said.

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Many cities around the country have removed Confederate statues or are considering their removal following protests in Charlottesville, Va., over the proposed removal of a Robert E. Lee statue.

In Baltimore, Md., early Wednesday morning, Confederate statues were removed using a large crane by order of Mayor Catherine Pugh. In Lexington, Ky., the urban council unanimously voted Tuesday to remove two Confederate statues from the lawn of the former Fayette County courthouse.



A Texas lawmaker proposed a bill in early August that would protect historical monuments from being taken down. Senate Bill 112 was inspired by fake attempts in late May to have the Sam Houston statue in Hermann Park removed.

As of Thursday morning, a change.org petition called "Remove Houston's 'Spirit of the Confederacy' Monument" had collected more than 2,100 signatures.

"The Confederacy represents not only treason against the United States but a system of institutionalized terrorism against non-white people and a militant defense of one of the most brutal forms of chattel slavery to ever exist in human history. We do not seek to erase this past from our history; what we seek is to erase attempts to romanticize, praise, and glorify this past," the petition stated.