--- description: "It was dumb and it shouldn’t have happened" title: Tom Petty Regrets Using Confederate Flag in Past Tour image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte160782ade9fed8c/69885adacd6848b3480a0ca7/tom-petty.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tom Petty Regrets Using Confederate Flag in Past Tour by [Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 14, 2015 6:42 PM CUT  Tom Petty at the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Tour 2014 in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 20, 2014. Tom Petty at the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Tour 2014 in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 20, 2014.Jeff Daly—Invision/AP by [Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 14, 2015 6:42 PM CUT Tom Petty used the [Confederate flag](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/21/john-oliver-confederate-flag "undefined") as a backdrop on his 1985 Southern Accents tour, but the musician wrote an essay for [_Rolling Stone_](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-petty-on-past-confederate-flag-use-it-was-downright-stupid-20150714?page=2 "undefined")Tuesday expressing his regret over that decision: “I just honestly didn’t give it much thought,” he said, “though I should have.” Petty goes on to explain that the album he was touring at the time, _Southern Accents,_ started out “as a concept record about the South” and that one of the songs, “[Rebels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jBi8XfKzk0 "undefined"),” was told from the perspective of someone “who talks about the traditions that have been handed down from family to family for so long that he almost feels guilty about the war.” “He still blames the North for the discomfort of his life, so my thought was the best way to illustrate this character was to use a Confederate flag,” he said. “I then just let it get out of control as a marketing device for the record. It was dumb and it shouldn’t have happened.” Read the entire essay over at [_Rolling Stone_](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-petty-on-past-confederate-flag-use-it-was-downright-stupid-20150714?page=2 "undefined")_._ _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/14/tom-petty-confederate-flag-comments "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/"},"headline":"Tom Petty Regrets Using Confederate Flag in Past Tour","datePublished":"2015-07-14T18:42:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:14:47.254Z","description":"\"It was dumb and it shouldn’t have happened\"","url":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/","keywords":["Music","celebrity","tom petty","Confederate Flag"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte160782ade9fed8c/69885adacd6848b3480a0ca7/tom-petty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ariana Bacle / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte160782ade9fed8c/69885adacd6848b3480a0ca7/tom-petty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tom Petty at the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Tour 2014 in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 20, 2014.","caption":"Tom Petty at the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Tour 2014 in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 20, 2014.","creditText":"Jeff Daly—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/","name":"Tom Petty Regrets Using Confederate Flag in Past Tour"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse","description":"Watch: The Confederate Flag Removed From SC Statehouse","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xKTPTJGx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-10T14:42:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xKTPTJGx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/","duration":"PT1M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3957692/tom-petty-confederate-flag-use/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```