In the raging controversy over the Confederate battle flag, defenders of that controversial banner insist it symbolizes Southern Heritage. But that flag only officially represented the South for four years – the deadliest, most destructive years in all Southern history, in a failed conflict to dismantle the United States and preserve slavery. Why not honor the South and its admirable patriotism by flying the flag under which Southerners fought heroically in all our wars—and that would be Old Glory? Or else, what about the historic “Palmetto Flag,” official state flag of South Carolina? Devised in 1775, it inspired the state’s noble role fighting the British in the Revolution. Even though Confederates also used it in the Civil war, that tragic episode represents only a tiny part of the Palmetto Flag’s honorable history. The right way to celebrate a long, stirring heritage is to emphasize its best years, rather than focus on its most painful and dubious interlude.