First National Confederate Flag
The First National Confederate Flag, which became known as the Stars and Bars, was a blue field with two red and three white stars. It looked so much like the Union flag that it caused confusion on the battlefield and led to the loss of lives at the July 1861 Battle of First Manassas and during other skirmishes. The resulting controversy led to demands that the Confederacy adopt a new flag that would look more different from the U.S. one, and this second national flag was designed to meet those needs.
Unraveling the Story Behind the First National Confederate Flag: A Legacy of Division
It was based on a rejected proposal for the nation’s first national flag, but it was modified by adding a broad red vertical stripe to the bottom of the field and by increasing the number of white stars to 13 (to represent the breakaway states of Kentucky and Missouri).