Confederate Flag’s Days Are Numbered in South Carolina

More than 50 years after South Carolina raised a Confederate flag at its Statehouse to protest the civil rights movement, the state is getting ready to remove the rebel banner

In this Saturday, June 27, 2015 file photo, Dan Williams, 65, of Ashville, Ala., holds a Confederate flag while standing with his daughter Bonnie-Blue Williams, 15, in front of the Alabama State Capitol building during a Confederate flag rally in Montgomery, Ala. (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP

COLUMBIA, S.C.—More than 50 years after South Carolina raised a Confederate flag at its Statehouse to protest the civil rights movement, the state is getting ready to remove the rebel banner.

A bill pulling down the flag from the Capitol’s front lawn and the flagpole it flies on passed the South Carolina House early Thursday morning. It should get to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk before the end of the day.

The governor promised to sign it quickly, but didn’t say exactly when. That’s important, because the bill requires the flag be taken down within 24 hours of her pen hitting the paper and shipped to the Confederate Relic Room.

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