SC's Confederate Flag Comes Down at 10am Tomorrow

Gov. Nikki Haley will sign the bill at 4pm today
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 9, 2015 10:41 AM CDT
SC's Confederate Flag Comes Down at 10am
A Confederate battle flag flies in front of the South Carolina statehouse yesterday in Columbia, SC.   (John Bazemore)

The place was already established; now the time has been as well. More than 50 years after South Carolina raised a Confederate flag at its Statehouse to protest the civil rights movement, that flag will come down—at 10am tomorrow. Then, the banner will be shipped to the Confederate Relic Room for display. Gov. Nikki Haley will sign the bill, which passed the state's House early today after 13 hours of debate, at 4pm today in the Statehouse lobby. The measure requires that the flag come down within 24 hours of her signature.

"It was done in a way that was a win to everyone," says Republican Rep. Rick Quinn, who secured a promise that lawmakers would find money for a special display at the Relic Room for the flag. After the Civil War, the Confederate flag was first flown over the dome of South Carolina's Capitol in 1961 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the war. It stayed as a protest to the Civil Rights movement, only moving in 2000 from the dome to its current location. The flag that flew over the dome will also head to the Relic Room. Read about the now-viral speech that helped the vote pass. (More Confederate flag stories.)

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