The Confederate flag has come under fire in Utah in recent years, and sightings of the Confederate flag flying in Utah are becoming scarce.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans marches each year in July Fourth parades across the U.S. However, the city of Magna, Utah, notified group members that while they were welcome to march in the parade, they were not allowed to carry the Confederate battle flag. Magna won the argument and the SCV Utah Division marched without Old Dixie,
according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Magna decision came after an embarrassing incident for the town of Herriman after its parade allowed a group to march and display a Confederate flag. It issued a public apology on its Facebook page in response to an outcry from residents,
according to FOX 13. The apology denied knowledge of the group’s intent and any offense that it may have caused. It went on to say the views of the city did not reflect those of the group.
Vote Now: Should the Confederate Flag Be Removed From All Government Buildings?
Colonial Flag in Sandy made Confederate flags for Utah and the country, but owner Paul Swenson decided to remove the flag from its stock following the shooting deaths of nine African-Americans in South Carolina by a white gunman. Swenson said the flag was drawing too much anger and division.
The Confederate flag had not been selling well at Colonial Flag anyway,
according to a report in The Salt Lake Tribune, with about 11 sold in 2014. The flags would still be available if a customer specifically asks for one, Swenson told the Tribune.
However, at Flags and Stuff, in Provo, sales of the Confederate flag have been brisk since the national debate over the Confederate flag in public spaces began,
reports The Utah Valley University Review. While not a Confederate state, Utah was landing place for many Confederate soldiers after the war, according to UVU integrated studies professor Alan Clarke.
“A lot of Confederates came out here (to Utah) after the Civil War. I suspect that many people here do have ancestry to the South. Maybe not a majority, but a lot of ex-Confederates came out west,” Clarke told The UVU Review.
The presence of Confederates to Utah is a reference point for Dixie State University, located in St. George. But the school has been struggling with its name and image for several years.
Between 2008 and 2012, Dixie State College considered a name change but, ultimately, the name changed to its current form,
The Salt Lake Tribune reports. However, the school did retire its mascot, the Rebel, in 2009,
according to The Deseret News.
After the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting,
there have been renewed calls to remove Dixie from the university's name.
Urgent: Should Government Buildings Be Forced to Remove the Confederate Flag?
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.