The Confederate flag is losing support in Ohio, which fought as part of the Union during the Civil War, yet the flag continues to be displayed at festivals and fairs in the Buckeye State — for now.
Efforts to remove the Confederate flag from public display have gained traction nationwide after a racist gunman killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina on June 17. The accused killer’s Facebook page included images of the flag, fueling the contention that the “Stars and Bars” is a symbol of racial intolerance.
Vote Now: Should the Confederate Flag Be Removed From All Government Buildings?
Various retailers throughout Ohio stopped selling Confederate flags in late June in response to the shooting deaths,
according to The Associated Press. They followed the lead of major retailers including eBay, Amazon, Wal-Mart and Sears.
In Columbus, Ohio, the Flag Lady’s Flag Store stopped peddling the rebel flag in late June after 35 years of selling it for historical purposes,
according to The Columbus Dispatch. Lori Leavitt Watson, vice president of the business, initially intended to continue making the flag available but changed plans when the store received a large number of orders soon after many national retailers discontinued sales. Watson said it became clear “that the flag was being purchased for something other than historical purposes,” the Dispatch reported.
However, “Confederate Flag Still Flies at County Fairs” read a
headline published in early July in the Dispatch. The article said it wasn’t unusual to find the rebel flag adorning T-shirts, belt buckles and lighters at fairs and festivals in Ohio.
The NAACP’s Ohio State Conference talked with its national office about asking the Ohio State Fair to ban the sale of items related to the Confederacy. A spokeswoman for the fair said fair board members would discuss prohibiting sales of merchandise containing symbols of the Confederate flag, adding that she considered such a ban to be “definitely a possibility,” the Dispatch reported.
Urgent: Should Government Buildings Be Forced to Remove the Confederate Flag?
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.