That is more or less enough to explain why some people find the Confederate flag offensive.

FORBES: Greens And The Confederate Flag - Jill Stein Not Whistling Dixie

The controversy over the Confederate flag in 2000 and the subsequent economic boycott by the NAACP drew national attention to racial tensions in South Carolina.

CNN: African-American vies for S.C. attorney general

From this vantage, it might not seem so wise to keep waving the Confederate flag and pretending there is no difference between singing Dixie and We Shall Overcome.

CNN: Playing with Fire

They also agreed that the Confederate flag, which civil rights campaigners say is a symbol of repression, should be lowered in South Carolina - the only state still to fly the flag on its statehouse.

BBC: Race dominates Democrat debate

The Confederate flag has also become an issue in the Republican campaign, but both leading contenders, George W Bush and John McCain, have said it is up to South Carolina residents to decide whether the flag should fly.

BBC: Race dominates Democrat debate

By definition symbols convey meaning, and people therefore tamper with them at their peril (witness the mixed emotions of race and tradition when the Confederate flag is flown in the South, or the horror when some white supremacist burns a cross or daubs a swastika).

ECONOMIST: Old Glory��s strength

There's also a Confederate national flag and various Imperial Russian, Prussian and German parade helmets, rank caps, medals, insignia and uniforms.

FORBES: Great Guns