Although the Confederate flags have come down in Montgomery, the symbol can still be seen on the state coat of arms, and one senator wants it changed.
State Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, told AL.com on Wednesday he wants the flag removed from the symbol.
The state coat of arms features a shield with five flags that represent the five countries that have held sovereignty over Alabama, including the Confederate States of America, according the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Gov. Robert Bentley's office said Tuesday he had no plans to take any action on Confederate issues.
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I see several symbols on the State Coat of Arms including Spain, France, England, Confederate and the United States. All of these countries supported slavery:
ReplyDeleteSpain - enslaved Native Americans and brought black slaves to the West Indies and Europe..
France - enslaved black Africans in Haiti and forced reparations for revolting.
England - Emptied the prisons and shipped them as sugar slaves to the West Indies. Sold Catholic Irish men, women, and children as sugar slaves in the West Indies and indentured servants in the American Colonies and Europe. Brought black Africans as slaves to both the West Indies and the American colonies.
United States (North) - brought black Africans as slaves to sell to the Southern plantations and the West Indies; kept a few as unpaid servants in the North.
Confederate - No international slave trade. Bought black Africans from Northern Slavers for the cultivation of tobacco and cotton. The nation only existed for four-years.
If the Confederate symbol is removed for having slaves then the others should be removed as well, the rest being worse slave-offenders than the South. Or, State Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma could screw his head on straight and forget the whole, stupid idea.
Thanks and some pertinent info. At first, I thought the senator was the same who was worried Guam might sink, but the last names were different, .:)
Deletei don't see any purpose to any state perpetuating fuedal customs like coats of arms. The State of Alabama has a state seal that appears on letterheads and official emblems. That is sufficient. The coat of arms, like the state flower, state fish, and state bird, are meaningless things legislatures pass to practice passing real legislation. They have no substance at all. Just repeal it.
ReplyDeleteThe original design of the coat of arms of Alabama was made in 1923 by B.J. Tieman, New York, an authority on heraldry, at the request of Marie Bankhead Owen, Director of the Department of Archives and History of Alabama. It is a beautiful design that depicts the history of the state from a representation of the ship "Badine") that brought French colonists who established the first permanent European settlements in the state to the symbols of the five nations that have at various times held sovereignty over a part or the whole of what is now Alabama. The Latin at the bottom reads, "We dare defend our rights", a perfect motto for Alabama.
DeleteBesides being used by itself, the coat of arms is used on many governmental seals of the state, as well as the flag of the governor of Alabama. It is history, it is beautiful, and it is found on many state seals and letterheads
I had one ggg-grandfather in the 20th Alabama who was killed at Shiloh so I feel a kinship to Alabama.
Thanks for the info which reminds me:
DeleteCoat Of Arms
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=848&highlight=coat+arms
My Grandmother, Sally Leach Pippen,
http://namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=73&mforum=brocktownsend
always had her various Coat Of Arms displayed openly. Once my sister went to visit her in Littleton, NC and noticed these were missing. When my sister asked where they were, my grandmother stated very contemptuously "When I found you could buy them out of a catalog, I put them in the closet!"