CRS INSIGHT
Display of the Confederate Flag at Federal Cemeteries
in the United States
May 420, 2016 (IN10313)
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Related Authors
Laura B. Comay
Scott D. Szymendera
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Laura B. Comay, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy (lcomay@crs.loc.gov, 7-6036)
Scott D. Szymendera, Analyst in Disability Policy (sszymendera@crs.loc.gov, 7-0014)
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of the Army all
administer federal cemeteries that sometimes display the Confederate flag. There are 147 national cemeteries in the
United States. The VA, through its National Cemetery Administration (NCA), administers 131 cemeteries. The Army,
in the Department of Defense (DOD), administers 2 national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and Soldiers'
and Airmen's Home National Cemetery. Another 14 national cemeteries are maintained by the NPS, in the Department
of the Interior. In addition, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) operates 25 American military
cemeteries in 16 foreign countries. The NPS, the VA, and the Army all have policies concerning the Confederate flag's
display. Following the June 17, 2015, shooting deaths of nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, SC,
the display of Confederate flags at federal cemeteries came under scrutiny.
National Park Service Policy
The NPS policy (NPS Director's Order #61 and related reference manual) allows the Confederate flag to be displayed in
some national cemeteries on two days of the year. If a state observes a Confederate Memorial Day, NPS cemeteries in
the state may permit a sponsoring group to decorate the graves of Confederate veterans with small Confederate flags.
Additionally, according to the NPS reference manual (p. 33), such flags may also be displayed on the nationally
observed Memorial Day, to accompany the U.S. flag on the graves of Confederate veterans. In both cases, a sponsoring
group must provide, place, and remove the flags as soon as possible after the end of the observance, all at no cost to the
federal government. At no time may a Confederate flag be flown on an NPS cemetery flagpole.
Following the shootings, the NPS asked its concessioners and other partners to voluntarily end sales of items that solely
depict a Confederate flag, and also issued a policy memorandum stating that Confederate flags shall not be flown in
units of the National Park System or related areas, except where the flags provide historical context. However, the
memorandum did not address NPS policies for the display of Confederate flags at national cemeteries.
Department of Veterans Affairs Policy
VA policy (NCA Directive 3220 issued on November 22, 2005; available from CRS) allows for small flags to be placed
at individual gravesites of interred Confederates, either with a U.S. flag or
without, on Memorial Day and on
Confederate Memorial Day in states that have designated a Confederate Memorial
Day. In states without a Confederal
Memorial Day, another date may be selected by the cemetery administrator. The
VA does not provide the Confederate
flags. The display is allowed only at NCA-managed cemeteries where
Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Marines are
buried. The Confederate flag may also be flown on a separate flagpole
from the U.S. flag only in NCA-managed
cemeteries in which Confederate soldiers are buried in mass graves and must
be subordinated to the U.S. flag. Any
display of the Confederate flag must be requested by a sponsoring historical or
service organization, which must
provide the flags. The sponsoring organization must also place and remove the flags
at no cost to the government.
Department of the Army Policy
The Army policy allows a small Confederate flag of a size not to exceed that of the U.S. flag to be placed on
Confederate graves at private expense, either on Memorial Day or on the day when Confederate Memorial Day is
observed. Those individuals or groups desiring to place these flags must agree in writing to absolve the federal
government from any responsibility for loss or damage to the flags. Confederate flags must be removed at private
expense on the first workday following Memorial Day or the day observed as Confederate Memorial Day.
Legislative Action
Following the June 2015 shootings, House Members addressed the display of confederate flags at NPS cemeteries in
floor amendments to H.R. 2822, the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill for
FY2016. Representative Huffman offered H.Amdt. 592, which would have prohibited the use of funds in the bill to
implement the policies in NPS Director's Order #61 that provide for the flag decorations in cemeteries. Representative
Calvert offered an opposing amendment, H.Amdt. 651, which would have prohibited funds being used to contravene
existing NPS policies on Confederate flags. Further action ceased on the bill, pending agreement on these and other
amendments concerning NPS use of the Confederate flag. The NPS's FY2016 appropriations were eventually provided
in December 2015 through P.L. 114-113, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, which contained no Confederate
flag provisions for NPS. No subsequent legislation has been introduced on the issue as of April 2016, and House and
Senate appropriators have not yet marked up an FY2017 Interior appropriations bill.
No provision affecting the placement of Confederate flags in VA or Army cemeteries was included in P.L. 114-113.
Neither the FY2017 VA nor the FY2017 Department of Defense appropriations bills have been marked up by House or
Senate appropriators. In the House, H.R. 3007 would prohibit the display of the Confederate flag in any VA national
cemetery In
the House, H.R. 3007 would prohibit the display of the Confederate flag in any VA national cemetery.
On May 19, the House passed an amendment introduced by Representative Huffman (H.Amdt. 1064) to H.R. 4974, the
House Military Construction and VA appropriations bill for FY2017, which would prohibit the use of VA funds to
implement Section 8(d)(2) of NCA Directive 3220, thus prohibiting the flying of the Confederate flag from a flagpole
at NCA-managed cemeteries in which Confederate veterans are buried in mass graves. The placement of Confederate
flags at the individual graves of Confederate veterans was not affected by this amendment. The amended version of
H.R. 4974 subsequently passed the House.