South Carolina Removes Another Confederate Flag

Judge clears way for local officials to enforce zoning rules against Sons of Confederate Veterans group

Published on Feb. 15, 2026

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A judge in South Carolina has cleared the way for local officials in Spartanburg County to enforce zoning rules against the Adam Washington Ballenger Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which had erected a massive Confederate flag on private property along Interstate 85. This is the latest defeat for the Confederate heritage community, as large Confederate flags along Southern highways are seen as modern political statements rather than relics of the Civil War.

Why it matters

These large Confederate flags along highways are not historical artifacts, but rather symbols used by organized heritage groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans to assert the visibility of Confederate symbolism in public spaces. Their proliferation in recent years represents the slow decline of the Lost Cause's political influence at the local and state level.

The details

The Confederate battle flag flown in these highway displays was not the official national flag of the Confederacy, but rather a battlefield emblem carried by several Confederate armies. After the Civil War, the flag largely receded from national prominence until a dramatic resurgence in the mid-20th century, when it was adopted by segregationists resisting civil rights reforms. In recent decades, as Confederate monuments and flags have been removed from public spaces, heritage groups have responded by erecting massive flags on private property adjacent to highways to ensure their continued visibility.

  • Last week, a judge in South Carolina cleared the way for local officials to enforce zoning rules against the Sons of Confederate Veterans group.
  • The large Confederate flags along Southern highways have been erected largely in the last 15 years by organized heritage groups.

The players

Adam Washington Ballenger Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

A heritage group that erected a massive Confederate flag on private property along Interstate 85 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

Sons of Confederate Veterans

An organized heritage group that has sought to assert the visibility of Confederate symbolism in public spaces, including by erecting large Confederate flags along highways in recent decades.

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What they’re saying

“Now all good Daughters know that after that sad day at Appomattox, when the South surrendered to the weight of numbers, the flag of the Confederacy was furled forever … It is now a sacred symbol to be used only by Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy … Our flag is not to be used in connection with any political movement–we are not in politics … If we regard our flag 'with affectionate reverence and undying remembrance' we must not permit improper use of it–and should let this be understood by the people at large. If the misuse of our flag occurs again–it will be our fault.”

— United Daughters of the Confederacy (The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem)

The takeaway

The removal of this Confederate flag in Spartanburg County is the latest example of the slow but gradual decline of the Lost Cause's political influence at the local and state level, as Confederate iconography continues to retreat from officially sanctioned public spaces and reemerges in privately controlled but publicly visible locations.