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CRS Insights
Display of the Confederate Flag at Federal Cemeteries
Laura B. Comay, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy (lomavacrs bc.ugo, 7-6036)
Barbara Salazar Torreon, Analyst in Defense Budget and Military Manpower (btorreonncrs.loc uQY, 7-8996)
Julty 1 0, 2(1 1 03]3
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of the Army all
administer federal cemeteries that sometimes display the Confederate flag. There are 147 national cemeteries in
all. The VA, through its National Cemetery Administration (NCA), administers 131 of them. The Army, in the
Department of Defense (DOD), administers 2 national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and Soldiers' and
Airmen's Home National Cemetery. Another 14 national cemeteries are maintained by the NPS, in the Department
of the Interior. The NPS, the VA, and the Army all have policies concerning the Confederate flag's display.
Following the June 17, 2015, shooting deaths of nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, SC, the
display of Confederate flags at federal cemeteries has come under scrutiny.
National Park Service Policy
The NPS policy (S Dire r rd r #61 and related referen m nal) allows the Confederate flag to be
displayed in some national cemeteries on two days of the year. If a state observes a Confederate Memorial Day,
NPS cemeteries in the state may permit a sponsoring group to decorate the graves of Confederate veterans with
small Confederate flags. Additionally, according to the NPS reference manual (p. 33), such flags may also be
displayed on the nationally observed Memorial Day, to accompany the U.S. flag on the graves of Confederate
veterans. In both cases, a sponsoring group must provide, place, and remove the flags as soon as possible after the
end of the observance, all at no cost to the federal government. At no time may a Confederate flag be flown on an
NPS cemetery flagpole.
Following the shootings, the NPS Director issued a memorandum to all NPS units on June 24, 2015, stating that
NPS had requested its concessioners and other partners to voluntarily end sales of items that solely depict a
Confederate flag. The memorandum also stated that Confederate flags shall not be flown in units of the National
Park System or related areas, except where the flags provide historical context. However, the memorandum did
not address NPS policies for the display of Confederate flags at national cemeteries.
Department of Veterans Affairs Policy
VA policy allows for small flags to be placed at individual gravesites of interred Confederates, either with a U.S.
flag or without, on Memorial Day and on Confederate Memorial Day in states that have designated a Confederate
Memorial Day. The VA does not provide the flags. The display is allowed only at VA-managed cemeteries where
Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Marines are buried. The Confederate flag may also be flown on a separate
flagpole from the U.S. flag only in NCA-managed cemeteries in which Confederate soldiers are buried in mass
graves and must be subordinated to the U.S. flag. Any display of the Confederate flag must be requested by a
sponsoring historical or service organization, which must provide the flags. The sponsoring organization must also
place and remove the flags at no cost to the government.
Department of the Army Policy
The Army policy allows a small Confederate flag of a size not to exceed that of the U.S. flag to be placed on
Confederate graves at private expense, either on Memorial Day or on the day when Confederate Memorial Day is
observed. Those individuals or groups desiring to place these flags must agree in writing to absolve the federal
government from any responsibility for loss or damage to the flags. Confederate flags must be removed at private
expense on the first workday following Memorial Day or the day observed as Confederate Memorial Day.
Legislative Action](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/crsmthaafip0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)