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The Southern Nationalist Flag (U.S.)

Southern Nationalist Network

image by Tomislav Todorovic, 8 October 2013

Introduction: Southern Nationalist Flag - Southern Nationalist Network

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Introduction: Southern Nationalist Flag

The Southern Nationalist Flag, charged with black saltire on white field, is a newly introduced symbol of neo-Confederate extremists in the USA. It was presented on 2013-07-31 by the Southern Nationalist Network website in an interview with its creator, a Jon (no last name presented) of Augusta, Georgia. The key points of his explanation on the interview were:

The design was said to have been inspired by the flag of Alabama. (1:06)
The saltire was said to be a symbol of purely European origin. (2:41)
The designer said: "It's a complete rejection, of course, of the red, white, and blue which was borrowed from the French Revolution. You know, equality, democracy, fraternity, you know, liberty." Thus he ignored the facts that the use of these colors in America not only predated that of the France, but also that the Confederate flags, the use which he does not reject, use the same colors, having actually inherited them. (He also ignored the facts that ideals he intends to reject were also those of American Revolution, which predated and largely inspired the French one, and that the Confederacy never rejected them the way he did. (4:14)
After the interviewer's comment that the flag also has a medieval, "Crusader" look, the designer mentioned the Teutonic Order's use of these colors. (5:38)
The designer said that the idea of creating a new flag for the Southern nationalists, which would not neceassarily put the old flags out of use, was partly inspired by the fact that the Confederate armed forces actually used a multitude of flags with various designs, not always derived from the official flags of the Confederacy. (6:20

A summary of the flag symbolism is presented here. White is said to stand for "European heritage, hierarchy, tradition" and black symbolizes nationalism, as was stated by the designer in his interview as well. After listing several European and American flags which it resembles, the flag was also said to recall the word "Dixie", which is derived from French word for number 10, dix, because the saltire resembles the Roman numeral X.

Soon after the flag was presented, the Southern Nationalist Network included its image into the website page header and the League of the South, a Neo-Confederate organization, used it at its demonstrations in the towns of Uvalda and Vidalia, Georgia, on 2013-08-24 (photo).
Tomislav Todorovic, 8 October 2013

image by Tomislav Todorovic, 11 December 2017

The Southern Nationalist Network, or "Southern Nationalists" were present in Charlottesville with a new variant of their flag.

The Southern Nationalist Network (SNN) was created in 2010 by a group of modern day Southern separatist whose goal seems to be, once again, the establishment of Southern independence. This neo-Confederate extremist group views the South as an occupied nation, and feel themselves to be "at odds with anything that comes out of Washington, DC, and with the tone of the general culture across the US as a whole."

The Southern Nationalist flag, a black saltire on white field, was introduced as the "symbol of neo-Confederate extremists in the USA" in 2013 by the Southern Nationalist Network. The white is said to stand for "European heritage, hierarchy, tradition," and black symbolizes "Southern nationalism." Besides being featured on the SNN website, the League of the South, a Neo-Confederate organization, use these SNN Flag has been reported at its demonstrations in the towns of Uvalda and Vidalia, Georgia, in 2013. At the violent White Nationalist Alt-Right demonstrations and riots in Charlottesville in 2017 several variants of their flags were seen, including this one that apparently that was being displayed by a group from Tennessee.

I've attempted to reproduce it here. Attached as us}sn-tenn.gif made from a photo shot from my TV screen on the nightly news.
Pete Loeser, 29 August 2017

Another photo available here: https://www.nationofchange.org/2017/10/28/noc-ground-tennessee-stands-white-supremacy/
From the relative position of letters and saltire, I would say that the inscription is indeed TENN - there is no space for any additional letters. Still there is space for a period after the second N, and there seems to be one in Pete's photo, almost completely hidden by the helmet worn by the man in front of the flag. Consequently, the inscription is most likely "TENN.".
Tomislav Todorovic, 11 December 2017