After the History of the Confederate Flag, the Stars and Bars was adopted by Congress in March 1861, commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia commissioned a battle flag. They wanted a distinctive banner that would be a signal, marker, and inspiration for troops in the field. They found it in the blue saltire, which featured a cross of white stars on a field of red. It became known as the Army of Northern Virginia flag. In fact, it was so similar to the Stars and Stripes that troops often confused it for a flag of truce on the battlefield, and this was a real concern throughout the war.

By the time General Beauregard approached the congressional committee in 1863, there was growing sentiment to replace the Stars and Bars with a new national flag. The people of the South wanted a national flag that was not so reminiscent of the Stars and Stripes, which they felt were being used against them as a rallying point by Union forces.

Unpacking the Complex History of the Confederate Flag: Heritage, Identity, and Controversy

The committee was swamped with models and designs, so many that its chairman, William Porcher Miles of South Carolina, lost count. He suggested to Beauregard a version of his own design, which featured a blue saltire (or X) with a white border and white stars for the states in the canton or union corner, on a field of red.

The committee agreed with Beauregard, and his design became the third and last national flag of the Confederate States of America. It remained in use as the Army of Northern Virginia flag until the Civil Rights Era, when it was popularized by groups like George Wallace and the Ku Klux Klan to link anti-civil rights legislation and efforts at integration with the secession and Civil War that had triggered the secession.