A red field crossed by a broad white diagonal band, a navy-and-gold star at the center, a ribbon strewn with golden stars and two laurel sprigs. Montgomery's flag says nothing of its two contradictory identities: the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.
1861: Jefferson Davis is sworn in as Confederate president on the steps of the Alabama Capitol. The "Stars and Bars" banner is raised for the first time. Montgomery embraced this identity for over a century.
Then came December 1955. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. Her arrest triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For over a year, Black residents refused to ride the segregated buses. A young pastor, Martin Luther King Jr., emerged as a leader.
The Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional. But victory came at a price: bombed homes, beaten activists, intense white violence.
1965: the Selma-to-Montgomery march ends on the Capitol steps. Thousands of demonstrators converge on the city. The Voting Rights Act would follow.
Today, Montgomery is a place of pilgrimage. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice commemorates the victims of lynching. The simple white flag hides complex and painful layers of history.