--- title: How to Remove the Confederate Flag from The South Carolina Statehouse description: Republican lawmakers may try to remove the flag from outside the South Carolina statehouse. But it won't be easy canonical: https://time.com/3930450/confederate-flag-south-carolina/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-22T18:56:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:16.741Z article:section: Politics og:title: How to Remove the Confederate Flag from South Carolina's Statehouse og:description: It's not as easy as just taking it down og:url: https://time.com/3930450/confederate-flag-south-carolina/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt039147cb2a61ef57/698855ab5f570fff19b1c1cc/confederate-flag3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-CRIME-SHOOTING-FLAG og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Remove the Confederate Flag from South Carolina's Statehouse twitter:description: It's not as easy as just taking it down twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt039147cb2a61ef57/698855ab5f570fff19b1c1cc/confederate-flag3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Remove the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina Statehouse > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=f2d177e9-286c-4b4c-a313-9d012817c483&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: Alleged Charleston Shooter Arrested [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Alleged Charleston Shooter Arrested](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pAFOX8tB.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-06-18. A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people, including the pastor, in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime._ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 22, 2015 6:56 PM UTC  The South Carolina and American flags flying at half-staff behind the Confederate flag erected in front of the State Congress building in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 2015. The South Carolina and American flags flying at half-staff behind the Confederate flag erected in front of the State Congress building in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 2015. Mladen Antonov — AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 22, 2015 6:56 PM UTC Five days after the murders of nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, the Confederate flag—a controversial symbol of southern separatism—is still flying high on the grounds of the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina. But that may be about to change. In the midst of a heated controversy over the Confederate flag’s racial legacy, [Gov. Nikki Haley is reportedly](http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150622/PC1603/150629833) preparing on Monday to propose removing the flag from the legislature’s grounds. And both South Carolina U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott will reportedly join her in that call, [according to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/lindsey-graham-confederate-flag-come-down/index.html) and a reporter from the Charleston [Post and Courier](https://twitter.com/skropf47/status/613049887337414656). The pathway for actually removing the flag is a thorny one, however, and would require real legislative will. **The Confederate flag’s place near the statehouse is enshrined in state law**. In 2000, under pressure from the NAACP and business interests in the state, legislation was passed requiring the Confederate flag be taken off the South Carolina statehouse and placed at the Confederate Soldier Monument, near where the legislature meets. The flag must fly within 10 feet of the monument and be illuminated at night. Even its height is mandated in the law: it has to fly 30 feet up the flagpole. **The law would be difficult to change.** The law stipulates that two-thirds of both houses must vote to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds, a prospect that seems an uphill battle considering some of the adamant opposition in the past to moving it. There’s [popular support](http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article13917458.html) to keep the flag in place: as of November, 61% of South Carolinians said the flag should continue to fly where it is, according to a Winthrop poll. **Timing is tricky, too**. With the state’s legislative session ending, a bill to remove the flag from state grounds may have to wait until December before it’s introduced. By then, much of the urgency to remove the flag may have passed. **But there may be an option to remove it immediately**: the legislature could slip a bill into the current budget bill. Budget bills tend to pass in South Carolina by a two-thirds majority, meaning a motion to remove the flag would have a much better chance of passing as part of budget negotiations. **And a simple majority may be enough.** The Democratic congressman from South Carolina, James Clyburn said Saturday that state legislators could remove the flag with a majority. > [](https://twitter.com/Clyburn/status/612708498426597376) **Pressure is growing to remove the flag.** Republican [national leaders](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/20/mitt-romney-remove-confederate-flag-south-carolina-statehouse-capitol-grounds/29031185/) like Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush have joined calls for the flag to be removed, along with Charleston’s mayor and local faith leaders — and some 500,000 have now signed a MoveOn.org [petition](http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/remove-the-confederate-3) to remove the flag. All that could put an extra push on any remaining, resistant state lawmakers. ### Witness Charleston's Grief After 9 Killed in Church Race Attack  Surreace Cox, of North Charleston, S.C., holds a sign during a prayer vigil down the street from the Emanuel AME Church early on June 18, 2015, following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  Charleston police officers search for a shooting suspect outside the Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. Matthew Fortner—The Post And Courier/AP  The steeple of Emanuel AME Church is visible as police close off a section of Calhoun Street early on June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  A man kneels across the street from where police gather outside the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. Wade Spees—AP  Worshippers gather to pray down the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. David Goldman—AP  A passing motorist looks out her window as she stops at an intersection down the street from the Emanuel AME Church early on June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. David Goldman—AP  An FBI agent walks across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015. David Goldman—AP ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience. It is senseless. It is unfathomable. 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