The Bonnie Blue Flag

"The Bonnie Blue Flag" is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States during the American Civil War. The words were written by the entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from "The Irish Jaunting Car", a British novelty song of the 1850s. The song's title refers to the unofficial first flag of the Confederacy, the Bonnie Blue Flag. The same tune was used in succeeding years, by various wordsmiths in the United States and the Confederate States, for a number of songs with a wide variety of agendas.

"The Bonnie Blue Flag" in Southern Victory
"The Bonnie Blue Flag" was adapted after the Great War as the theme song of the Tin Hats paramilitary organization. In 1933, several members of a Tin Hats rally in Birmingham, presided over by founder Amos Mizell, began singing this song. However, more voices chanted "Freedom!" so that the song was mostly drowned out. Adding insult to injury, the singing was led by Caleb Briggs, a Freedom Party man rather than a Tin Hat, showing how the Tin Hats were being made irrelevant and assimilating into the Freedom Party. Even more disconcerting to Mizell, the repeated cry of "Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!" began subliminally changing to "Featherston! Featherston! Featherston!"