'Big Reg' flag tag could preserve Civil War banner
The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. --

The "Big Red" flag linked to South Carolina military school cadets firing on a Union ship before the Civil War could be preserved with the help of a new state license tag.

State Rep. Chip Limehouse on Wednesday introduced a bill that issues a special tag that would bear the image of the red banner with white Palmetto tree and crescent.

Limehouse said it would help the state pay for proper storage and preservation of the banner said to have flown when cadets from The Citadel fired on the Star of the West on Jan. 9, 1861 as it tried to resupply a garrison.

What's believed to be the original flag is on loan to The Citadel from the Iowa State Historical Museum.