Virginia City Weighs Confederate Flag-Flying Limits

LEXINGTON, Va. –  About 100 people rallied Thursday evening in opposition to a proposal to limit the flying of the Confederate flag in the rural Virginia city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson are buried.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans organized the "Save our Flags" gathering before the city, which was considering an ordinance to limit flags on downtown poles to just those of the United States, Virginia and the city of Lexington. The proposal has angered defenders of the divisive Southern symbol. It would not limit the flag's display elsewhere.

"I am a firm believer in the freedom to express our individual rights, which include flying the flag that we decide to fly," said Philip Way, a Civil War re-enactor who turned out for the late-summer rally clad in a Confederate wool uniform. "That's freedom to me."

Mimi Knight, watching from a wrought iron fence at a sea of Confederate flags in a small city park, was not part of the rally. But she said she thought the city ordinance seemed too restrictive.