{"id":3794,"date":"2026-07-03T11:04:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T11:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3794"},"modified":"2026-07-03T11:04:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T11:04:45","slug":"was-confederate-symbol-ever-part-of-ncs-flag-how-it-came-to-state-fair-booth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3794","title":{"rendered":"Was Confederate symbol ever part of NC\u2019s flag? How it came to \u2018State Fair\u2019 booth"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

When images of North Carolina\u2019s booth at the Great American State Fair first surfaced last week, a Confederate battle flag displayed on multiple monitors became the latest controversy to hit the Washington, D.C., exhibit \u2014 raising questions about where the image came from and whether it bears any historical merit.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Married at First Sight U.K.’ Star Arrested on Suspicion of Rape<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, North Carolina has only flown one other official state flag in its history, and the one displayed in the booth isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n

Because North Carolina officially bowed out<\/a> of the Trump-backed State Fair celebrating America\u2019s 250th birthday, private organizers and businesses stepped up<\/a> to sponsor and design the state\u2019s booth. Those included race car company Richard Childress Racing, vehicle manufacturer Spevco and Mt. Olive Pickles.<\/p>\n

A video of the booth from June 26 posted by Spectrum News\u2019 Reuben Jones<\/a> shocked some viewers. Monitors in the booth showed a flag with part of the North Carolina state flag on the left, and the notorious X-shape of the Confederate flag on the right.<\/p>\n

In light of the Confederate imagery, Mt. Olive Pickles announced it would be withdrawing its support, writing on social media that \u201cour company stands on values of human dignity, opportunity and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, organizers say the video has been taken down from the booth.<\/p>\n

According to Spevco, the video on display in the booth was a 45-minute history video about North Carolina publicly available on YouTube. The video<\/a>, posted four years ago by creator \u201cThat Is Interesting<\/a>\u201d is titled \u201cNorth Carolina – The US Explained,\u201d and is part of a video \u201cdeep dive\u201d series on each U.S. state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was shown on many outlets and social media was a screenshot of the few seconds the flag was shown from the YouTube video being played on the screens,\u201d a Spevco spokeperson told The N&O in a statement. \u201cSPEVCO did not create, produce, edit, approve or select this historical video to be shown at the NC tent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the beginning of the video, around minute three, the host, Carter Stacy, talks the viewer through his opinion of North Carolina\u2019s state flag.<\/p>\n

First, Stacy shows the current state flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs state flag designs go, I\u2019d put North Carolina\u2019s somewhere in the middle,\u201d he says in the video. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t go with the classic state seal on blue background design that so many states have taken up. It\u2019s not a bad-looking design, with a blue vertical bar, red and white horizontal bars, and a star surrounded by the state\u2019s abbreviation and two ribbons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more How to watch 4th of July fireworks on TV: Best shows celebrating America\u2019s 250th<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, Stacy switches to a view where the red and white bars of the state flag are replaced by the X-shaped Confederate battle flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest complaint with North Carolina\u2019s flag, though, is that it is based off the flag the state used when it was part of the Confederacy, a trend that is unfortunately still very common among the Southern flags.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the flag in the video, and in turn the one in the Great American State Fair booth, doesn\u2019t match the flag flown in North Carolina during the Civil War.<\/p>\n

North Carolina did not have a state flag until the constitutional convention of 1861, according to NCpedia<\/a>, a resource managed by the state Government & Heritage Library. That year, it adopted a flag it used throughout the Civil War and until the current flag\u2019s design was adopted in 1885.<\/p>\n

That flag is not the flag shown in The US Explained video.<\/p>\n

The real historical flag, however, does feature Confederate symbolism. On the left, there is a vertical red field with a star. Above the star is the same May 20, 1775, date as on the current flag \u2014 the debunked date<\/a> of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. But instead of the 1776 date that currently sits below the star, the original flag features a May 20, 1861, date commemorating the day North Carolina seceded from the Union.<\/p>\n

To the right of the red field with the star and dates are two horizontal blue and white fields \u2014 not the Confederate battle flag, as shown in Stacy\u2019s video. The News & Observer reached out to Stacy to ask where he found the flag shown in the video but did not receive a response in time for publication.<\/p>\n

In 1885, the state legislature adopted the current flag, replacing the secession date with April 12, 1776, in honor of the Halifax Resolves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more UNC men\u2019s basketball picks up late commitment from transfer portal guard<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 1:42 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New details explain how a YouTube history video led to Confederate imagery appearing in NC\u2019s State Fair booth in Washington, D.C., and the sponsors' reactions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWas Confederate symbol ever part of NC\u2019s flag? 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