News / Politics

South Carolina takes down Confederate flag from legislature

Friday, 10 July 2015 2:34 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 July 2015 3:20 PM ]

A folded Confederate flag is carried away from the pole it has flown from for the past 54 years, at the South Carolina state house on Friday morning. (@pzoeller)

The controversial Confederate flag has been removed from South Carolina’s State House grounds in a ceremony, which was covered live by television channels.

Thousands of people cheered the removal of the battle flag flying over the state capitol grounds on Friday morning.

The flag, which went up on the State House grounds more than half a century ago at the height of the US civil rights movement, was regarded by many as a bitter symbol of racism and slavery.

The Confederate States of America was an unrecognized confederation of secessionist US states whose regional economy was mostly dependent upon agriculture, which in turn largely relied upon the labor of black slaves.

A man watches the sun rise on Confederate battle flag at the South Carolina state house on July 10, 2015 in Columbia, SC. (AFP photo)

In a message on his Twitter account, US President Barack Obama called the removal of the Confederate flag “a signal of good will and healing, and a meaningful step towards a better future.”

The removal of the flag came more than three weeks after the racially motivated massacre of nine African-American worshippers, including a state senator, at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

On Thursday, the state legislature passed legislation 94-20 after more than 13 hours of emotional and contentious debate.

Later in the day, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, signed the order into law, flanked by relatives of the people died in Charleston church.

The measure calls for the banner to be removed within 24 hours of the governor’s signature.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley receives applause after signing a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state house grounds July 9, 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. (AFP photo)

"The State House is an area that belongs to everyone and no one should ever drive by the State House and feel pain," Haley told NBC television Friday.

"I think this is a hopeful day for South Carolina. I think it is a day that we can all say that we have come together as a state," she said.

The Confederate battle flag was first raised atop the South Carolina State House in 1962, as part of the US Civil War centennial commemoration, where it remained until 2000 despite persistent protest from civil rights groups.

That year a political compromise led to the flag being removed from the State House’s dome and another raised on a 30-foot flagpole at the Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the State House.

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