SOUTH CAROLINA: Confederate Flag to Get New Display
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A pared-down plan to display the modern, nylon Confederate flag that was removed in 2015 from the State House grounds is under consideration by the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.
The plan is to incorporate two offices at the museum, which is located in the same mill building as the S.C. State Museum, into a display space for the flag, which is in storage at the museum.
In July 2015, a state Highway Patrol honor guard removed the Confederate flag from the State House grounds. Tim Dominick FILE PHOTOGRAPH
The $300,000 to $400,000 renovation plan is about one-tenth of the $3.6 million museum-expansion plan floated by the Relic Room’s commission months ago.
“We are busting at the seams,” Robeson said. “We need more space and I was more concerned about the space” than just displaying the State House flag.
A formal presentation about the new plan will be made on Feb. 15 to the Relic Room commission. If approved, the plan would be sent to the General Assembly for final OK.
The flag was removed in the wake of the slaughter of nine parishioners at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. As part of that decision, the General Assembly mandated that the State House flag be displayed with respect and in conjunction with other Confederate artifacts.
The Relic Room has been struggling with a cost-effective solution ever since. The $3.6 million plan would have displayed the modern flag in a new wing with other, authentic Confederate flags now in storage, along with a digital display of the names of all South Carolina soldiers killed in the Civil War.
“We are just trying to respond to the legislature’s mandate,” said Relic Room Commission vice chairman Voight Shealy.
The legislature never considered the more expensive plan, nor has it given any budget to the Relic Room for the display.
“I think this price will be more agreeable,” Robeson said.
