About the Flag of the 27th South Carolina

Part of Civil War @ Charleston Website

The 27th. South Carolina and its predecessor Battalions carried several flags during their service to the State of South Carolina and the Confederacy, including the Department of South Carolina and Georgia version of the Confederate Battle Flag, however this flag, made in Charleston is distinctive. The design for the flag was apparently suggested by the editor of a Charleston Newspaper when the first national flag of the Confederacy (Stars and Bars) was confused with the flag of the United States. It is believed several such flags were made for and used by Charleston area units.
The "C.L.I." on the center shield stands for Charleston Light Infantry, one of the designations applied to the Charleston Battalion, the six hundred members of which were merged with the 1st. S.C. Sharpshooter Battalion into the 27th. SC on October 30th. 1863. The Battle Honor applied above the letters is Secessionville, referring to the June 16, 1963 Battle on James Island where the Charleston Battalion defended the Confederate Right at Battery Lamar and the City of Charleston against an assault by two federal divisions. It is believed to have been flown during the Morris Island Campaign and during the Unit's Virginia and North Carolina Confederate Service.
The Original flag is about two by three feet in size and fringed in gold. It is in the keeping of the museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA. It is attached to the staff by a red sleeve. The reenactment unit's replica is flown in the camp of the regiment, carried on the march and into reenactment battles as a reminder of the sacrifice and heroism of the units that carried it long ago.
The regiment also owns and carries the more familiar South Carolina version of the Square Confederate Battle Flag used by Hagood's Brigade and is preparing a replica of the tattered Stainless Banner (C.S.A. 2nd. National) the regiment raised over Ft. Sumter during the garrison under bombardment there. The Confederate Battle Flag of Hagood's Brigade, under which the unit fought in Virginia and North Carolina is kept at the Confederate Relic Room in Columbia, SC.