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Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025

Did a Confederate flag fly on Oklahoma Capitol grounds until 1988?

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
yes

From 1966 to 1988, the Confederate flag was included in the 14 Flags Plaza at the south entrance of the Oklahoma Capitol, which exhibited the flags that had flown over the state from 1541 to 1925.

The display also included the Choctaw flag, the Texas flag, and the flags of foreign nations including Spain, Great Britain, France, and Mexico.  

All the flags were removed during a 1988 renovation, after which the Confederate flag did not return. Then-Gov. Henry Bellmon decided in 1989 to leave the pole unused because the Legislature did not specify which version of the Confederate flag was to be flown.

By law, the poles must fly some combination of the United States, Oklahoma, the American Ex-Prisoner of War and commemorative Oklahoma centennial flags.

In 2003, a bill was passed that allowed the Confederate flag to be flown at the Oklahoma History Center.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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