Six Flags Over Texas began parting ways with Confederate battle flag long ago

The backlash against the Confederate battle flag has been swift with Amazon, Wal-Mart, Apple, NASCAR and Southern governors either opposing or taking action against the divisive symbol.

This controversy, however, hasn’t touched Six Flags Over Texas and the Confederate flag that’s flown at or near the Arlington theme park’s entrance for nearly 54 years. Six Flags, named for the number of nations that flew their flags over Texas, had already backed away from the racially charged symbol and Confederate history decades ago with little publicity and no controversy.

“We do not fly or sell any variation of the Confederate battle flag,” said Sharon Parker, a Six Flags spokeswoman.

Parker said she wasn’t sure when the battle flag was swept aside. An amateur park historian guessed that it happened by the mid-1990s.

Six Flags dodged the current fallout — started after the racially motivated killings of nine at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. — thanks in part to a desire for historical accuracy. The park does fly the Confederate flag, but it uses the lesser-known first national flag of the Confederacy. Texas is represented as one of seven stars that form a circle in the upper left corner of that flag.

Those seven breakaway states’ stars were joined by six others on the battle flag — seen today as a passionate marker representing everything from regional pride to white supremacist hate.

Parker said the first Confederate national flag was initially chosen by the park because it was displayed on the Texas state seal. The battle flag, whose popularity surged during the mid-20th century civil rights movement, was the one that became the symbol most associated with the Civil War and Jim Crow South.

Sam Nesmith, 73, who led the original Confederate re-enactors at the park, said his troops mostly used the first national flag or a different Texas-Confederate flag.

“There probably were some battle flags around,” said Nesmith, who worked there from 1961-63. “I know that we didn’t use them.”

Almost since the beginning, Six Flags officials realized the Civil War was a touchy matter and backed away from some controversial elements.

Early on, the Confederate section of the park featured rebel soldiers searching through the crowds for Union spies. When caught, spies were executed by firing squad.

“Some visiting Yankees winced at seeing one of their own get it, however,” according to a 1965 Dallas Morning News story. “So, the outfit is getting a new script.”

The new version had the troops capturing a rebel deserter instead.

In a nod to racial — as well as regional — sensitivities, the same story pointed out that one Confederate soldier was Mickey Carson, a black ROTC student at Arlington State College, now the University of Texas at Arlington.

The story explained that, “Everybody does a double-take when he marches by.”

“I’m a true-blooded Negro, but I say if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” Carson told the Morning News reporter.

In that era, the battle flag was prominent at Arlington State College. It was on some of the college’s Rebel band uniforms, displayed on the field at football games and waved by fans in the stands. The school’s mascot was Johnny Reb before UTA students adopted the Mavericks mascot in 1971.

Just as the rebel mascot faded at UTA, so did some Confederate themes at Six Flags.

At first, there were areas where boys could sign up for the Confederate army and girls could volunteer to be nurses. Banners hung that said, “To Arms! To Arms! Defend Your Homes and Fireside!”

Nesmith would frequently make rousing speeches to the crowds in his role as a Confederate commander.

“You probably couldn’t get away with that today,” Nesmith said.

Lawyer Davis McCown, who worked at Six Flags during the mid-1970s and is writing a park history, said the Confederate battle flag was present but not ubiquitous. He said the battle flag was typically flown only from a set of white columns marking the boundary between the Texas and Confederacy sections.

The Southern symbol did appear elsewhere in the park. Hats, flags and other souvenirs with the battle flag were sold in stores and kiosks in the Confederacy section. That flag was also used as a logo designating the Confederacy section on Six Flags maps from the mid-1970s to mid-’80s.

“At one time, the park had a themed section called the Confederacy, and the Confederate battle flag was used as part of the theming and a Civil War re-enactment,” Parker said in an email. “The name of that section of the park was changed to the Old South in the mid-1990s and all Confederate battle flags were removed.”

McCown said the park’s 1996 map refers to the Confederacy section. The one for 1997 called it the Old South.

Former employees, including McCown, took little or no notice of the rebranding of the Confederacy and removal of the battle flags. There were no known public protests and no publicity about the changes.

“The former employees complain about a lot of stuff,” he said. “We have reunions, and I know it’s been mentioned. But I don’t remember there being a big discussion.”

The park was created with sections representing each flag, which also included the Republic of Texas, Mexico, France, Spain and the United States. Each section had rides and attractions loosely based on that history.

Eventually, the emphasis switched to roller coasters and thrill rides. Sections and rides were branded with Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters, with less emphasis on historical attractions.

The Old South and France have essentially merged into one section with the Runaway Mountain roller coaster as its signature ride. It also includes a Cold Stone Creamery, M&M shop, an antique photo emporium and the Southern Palace theater.

“That was a shame. We had history in it,” Nesmith said of the original park. “Now it’s almost just an entertainment park. … I hated to see that change, but hey, times change.”

Follow Jeff Mosier on Twitter at @jeffmosier.