Crowd cheers as South Carolina removes Confederate flag from Capitol

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- As South Carolina ceremoniously removed the Confederate flag from the state Capitol on Friday, lawmakers across the nation continue to debate similar actions that would abolish the flag and its symbols from license plates to national parks.

Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley watched as eight uniformed honor guards removed the divisive Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds, surrounded by lawmakers and supporters of the families of nine black churchgoers who were gunned down in an apparent racially motivated shooting in Charleston on June 17.

Thousands gathered to the watch the small ceremony, after weeks of emotional debate and heavy security. Spectators burst into cheers, applauding, chanting "U.S.A" and singing, "Hey, hey hey, goodbye." The flag was lowered, carefully rolled, tied with a string and taken by armored car to the state museum.

Earlier in the day, Haley told the Today show the removal marked a significant step forward and that she hoped for more.

"We can continue to move forward in a country in a way that unifies people and that shows what real love looks like. That's what I want people to get out of this," she said.

Controversy over the so-called "Rebel Flag," long reviled as a symbol for hate but defended as part of Southern culture and history, reignited after photographs of the accused church gunman show him wearing a Confederate flag on his jacket. Investigators have described the shooter as a white supremacist.

The flag, which had flown at the Capitol for more than 50 years, was moved to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, the state's military history museum, where it became part of the collection. It's unclear how it will be displayed.

The Future of the Flag

The removal of the flag in South Carolina is just the tipping point of what's to come across the United States. On Thursday, House Republicans pulled a bill that would have allowed Confederate flags in federally run cemeteries and national parks. The House also voted to stop stores operated by the National Park Service from selling the flags.

At least five governors have publicly supported removing Confederate symbols, including in Virginia, where the state attorney general took steps to remove the image of the Confederate flag from vehicle license plates.

In Alabama, the governor ordered the flag removed from the war memorial at the Capitol, while the Mobile City Council removed it, along with four others, from the city's official seal.

Even Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., stepped into the fray, removing the flag from a display at Epcot's American Adventure.

It's not just the Confederate flag that's being rebuked, but enduring symbols of the Civil War and slavery.

California lawmakers introduced a bill that would prohibit naming state and local properties after Confederate leaders. In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked the City Council to relocate four prominent Confederate monuments and rename Jefferson Davis Parkway.

"This is about more than the men represented in these statues. This discussion is about whether these monuments, built to reinforce the false valor of a war fought over slavery, ever really belonged in a city as great as New Orleans whose lifeblood flows from our diversity and inclusiveness," Landrieu said.

At the same time, hundreds of petitions started on MoveOn.org and Change.org range from removing the flag and renaming monuments, to renaming streets and ending celebrations of Confederate holidays.

Flag Still Popular

Even as Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, eBay, Sears and other major retailers stop selling merchandise tied to the flag, others cannot keep it in stock. Budget Flag & Banner owner Mike Varner refuses to sell Islamic State or Nazi flags in his Oklahoma City shop, but the Confederate flag is a different story.

"That flag is part of our history, and you can't erase our history," he said. "Would I fly a Confederate flag on my pole? No. But I would defend your right to do the same."