The Cross of Saint Andrew is the central devise, or saltire, of the Confederate Battle Flag. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and was, as most know, one of the twelve apostles. He spread the Gospel in the provinces that are now part of Turkey, and then into Greece. He was crucified in the year 60 AD—and bound, not nailed, to a decussate (“X” shaped) cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. He asked to be crucified in this manner because he felt himself unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord.

Saint Andrew was considered the patron Saint of the Dutchy of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Scotland, and the Russian Empire, and all three used flags featuring the Cross of Saint Andrew. In Burgundy, a red cross is on a white field; in Scotland, a white cross on a blue field; and in the Russian navy, a white-bordered blue cross on a red field. By the end of the 17th century, the saltires of the British, Spanish, and Russian empires covered a large percentage of the surface of the earth.

When the use of crosses first arose there can be no doubt of the religious origin. They were first used by Constantine after his vision at the Milvian Bridge: “In this sign conquer.” This led directly to the legalization of Christianity. But as time passed, the Christian symbolism of crosses on flags seems to have faded.

The Cross of Saint Andrew is found on the flags of nations and governments around the world that are derived from the flag of the British Empire. Notable examples are the flags of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. There are also a few examples, such as the municipal flag of Valdivia in Chile, of flags derived from the Burgundian/Spanish form of the Cross of Saint Andrew. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Andrew flag, as the Russians call it, once again sails the oceans of the world on the ships of the Russian navy. Other flags featuring the saltire include the Isle of Jersey, the Basque country in Spain, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Jamaica in the Caribbean, Burundi in Africa, and the German airline Lufthansa.

Was the Confederate battle flag derived from any of these sources? There were certainly more Southerners of Scottish descent than Russian, Burgundian, or Spanish. Its designer, however, William Porcher Miles of South Carolina, simply stated that it was an “honourable ordinary” and a relatively nonsectarian alternative acceptable in the South to both Jews and Protestants.

Nevertheless, no one can deny that the Cross of Saint Andrew grew to become the symbol of the crusade for Southern independence, and to many in the South it represents a cultural heritage inextricably bound to the faith for which the Apostle Andrew gave his life.

DEVEREAUX D. CANNON JR. is
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